Vigil, Priscilla

Priscilla Duran Vigil was born into Tesuque Pueblo in October 1919. Her parents were Beninio Duran and Epimenia Vigil Duran. Her husband was Marcos Vigil. It was Marcos’ grandmother, Francisgita Romero, and her sister, Anastasia Romero Vigil, who made the first muna figures with miniature water jars in the early 1900s. By 1905 those figures had become known as Rain Gods and were in fashion from coast to coast. The potters of Tesuque were pushed to make them until they were being sold by the barrel, for pennies each. They went through several cycles of paint changes until the time period up to 1970 climaxed with poster paints. Then production of pottery at Tesuque virtually ceased.

When the smoke finally cleared, Priscilla Vigil was still making a few muna, some even with animals attached to the pots in their laps. She also made nativities, turtles, squirrels, micaceous cooking pots and polychrome jars and bowls. However, she was also a writer and most noted for her fiction, her poetry and her facility with telling a story.