Archuleta, Mary Ester

Mary Ester Archuleta was born into in 1942. She was the daughter of Alcario and Margaret Tafoya. Among her siblings were Jennie Trammel, Virginia Ebelacker, Lee Tafoya, Mela Youngblood, Toni Roller, LuAnn Tafoya and Shirley Cactus Blossom Tafoya. Like her siblings, she grew up learning how to make pottery through watching and working with her parents as they made pottery. Then in the 1960s she married a man from Ohkay Owingeh and moved to his home there.

The main art pottery style at Ohkay Owingeh is called Potsuwi’i and it’s derived from a style found in an abandoned pueblo by the same name on Ohkay Owingeh land. The pottery has been dated to have been made from 1450 to about 1540, about the same time as Coronado’s entry into New Mexico. Mary was intrigued by the style enough to incorporate elements of it in her own Santa Clara-style pottery. That led to about 25 years as a top award earner at the Santa Fe Indian Market. Her efforts were pivotal in the revival of Ohkay Owingeh incised pottery in the 1970s.