Ami, Nettie

Nettie Ami (1901-1992) was a Hopi-Tewa potter from the village of Polacca. She started learning to make pottery around 1930 and was an active potter from about 1940 to 1983. She mostly made black-and-red-on-yellow jars and ladles, black-on-yellow jars and black-on-red bowls. The moth and the eagle seem to have been among her favorite designs.

Married to Glenn Ami, Nettie was the mother of Alexander, Bettie, Leroy, Lolita and Pearl Ami. She didn’t sign any of her pots until sometime in the 1970s. Then she usually signed “Nettie Ami”.

Nettie was one of the featured artists in the May 1974 Arizona Highways color photo portfolio along with Hopi potters Edith Nash, Elizabeth White, Violet Huma, Nampeyo, Fannie Nampeyo, Nellie Nampeyo, Daisy Hooee and Dextra Quotskuyva. (That same issue also featured potters from Santa Clara, San Ildefonso and Jemez Pueblos.)

Photo of Nettie Ami was taken at First Mesa by Christy Turner in 1956. Digital identifier: E100B_1956_047.jpg. Photo courtesy of the Museum of Northern Arizona.