Cata, Myrtle

Myrtle Chavarillo Cata was born into the Turquoise Clan of Ohkay Owingeh in 1953. Her lineage is part Ohkay Owingeh, part San Felipe Pueblo.

Myrtle has said it was her heart that guided her into the traditional craft of making pottery, that and the income potential. It was in the time gap between the first attempted revival of San Juan pottery and the second. There hadn’t been many active potters at Ohkay Owingeh in a long time so Myrtle went to school to learn the fundamentals of the ancient art.

In one of her classes she met Tina Garcia (of Santa Clara and Ohkay Owingeh heritage) and they became good friends, sharing their methods of working with clay and special techniques they’d learned with each other. Tina preferred making contemporary Santa Clara-style pottery with either no decoration or only a couple bear paw imprints or a row of simple rounded impressions around the shoulder.

Myrtle specializes in contemporary hand-coiled San Juan pottery. Her pieces tend to be graceful and undecorated with thin walls. Many of her pieces are micaceous, some have a raised sculptural embellishment and some are formed melon jars.

Myrtle was a regular exhibitor at Santa Fe Indian Market from 1994 to 1999. Some of her work is in the permanent collection of the National Museum of the American Indian.

Myrtle is involved in other artistic pursuits, too. Among those other pursuits she constructs traditional men’s headdresses.

She signs her pottery: Myrtle Cata, San Juan Pueblo.