Herrera, Marie

Marie Pino Herrera was born into Tesuque Pueblo around 1903, the daughter of Juan and Ciserita Pino. Among her siblings were Juan Isidro Pino (1895-1953), Jose Pino, Mirror Lake Pino and Dominguita Pino Padilla.

In the early 1930s, Marie was in the heart of the efforts to make Muna (Tesuque Rain Gods – although muna originally meant “funny ones”). It is said that she, Osalla Padilla, Lorencita Pino and Anastasia Herrera Pino went from house to house making rain gods. One made heads, another made bodies, a third made arms, a fourth made legs. Then they’d all go about assembling them, 100 at a time. Once assembled and dry, they’d go back and get the ones each had assembled and they’d paint those in their particular styles. This was probably as close to mass production as pottery making on the pueblos has ever gotten. At a certain point, the women all burned out on it and stopped making muna for a while.

When Marie went back to making pottery, she made mostly micaceous and polychrome jars, bowls and figures. She passed on in the 1980s.