Juanico, Marie

“No two pots are alike! The fire makes each one different!”

Marie S. Juanico was born into Acoma Pueblo in September 1937. Her parents were Toribio and Delores Sanchez. Ethel Shields and Katherine Lewis were her sisters. Like her sisters, Marie learned how to make pottery through watching and working with their mother. Marie passed her knowledge on to her daughter, Delores Aragon, the same way.

Marie primarily makes traditional polychrome Acoma-style jars, bowls and owls, and decorates them with designs she learned from her mother. That said, Marie also says her pots often take on shapes of their own as she is coiling them. If a piece comes out in an old style shape, she decorates it in old style designs. If a piece comes out in a more contemporary shape, she innovates her own designs.

For many years her pottery has been Marie’s only source of income. Her expertise shows in the number of ribbons she has earned from the Santa Fe Indian Market, the New Mexico State Fair and the Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonial.

Marie’s work is shown in the Indian Craft Shop at the US Department of the Interior in Washington, DC. Her work is also prominent in the private collections of Allan & Carol Hays, John Blom and Drs. Judith & Richard Lasky, among others.

Marie passed her knowledge on to her daughter and provided encouragement to other Acoma potters, including Marietta Juanico, her daughter-in-law.