Sahmie, Rachel

Rachel Sahmie Nampeyo was born to Priscilla Namingha Nampeyo and Donnelly Sahmie in 1956. She grew up in the village of Polacca at the foot of Hopi First Mesa, surrounded by some of the finest traditional potters in the Hopi mesas. Growing up watching her mother make pottery, Rachel learned a lot. She was active as a potter after about 1970.

Rachel had seven siblings, all of whom are potters or Katsina carvers. Her brothers and sisters were Nyla Sahmie, Jean Sahmie, Bonnie Chapella, Randall Sahmie, Andrew Sahmie, Foster Sahmie and Finkle Sahmie. Rachel had one daughter, Carla Moreno, and two grandchildren, Sean Michael and Madison.

Rachel specialized in the Sikyátki-Revival shapes and designs brought back into popularity by her great-great-grandmother, Nampeyo of Hano. There was a time in her early twenties when Rachel experimented with more contemporary shapes and designs for her pottery but it “didn’t have the same feel,” and she returned to using the traditional designs of her great-great-grandmother. She also created pieces decorated with Anasazi corrugations.

Rachel was an accomplished potter with works on display in places like the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe and the Heard Museum in Phoenix.

She often participated in shows at the Heard Museum, the Tuhisma Hopi Arts and Crafts Market in Kykotsmovi, AZ, and the Santa Fe Indian Market, earning her a number of First, Second and Third Place ribbons.

Rachel’s favorite shapes to make were tiles and Sikyátki-style pots. Her favorite designs always had bird elements in them.

Rachel told us she was often inspired simply by hiking through the ruins of Sikyátki and studying the pot shards she found strewn on the ground there.

She wanted the world to know she loved making pottery so much that she’d have kept on making it long after folks stopped buying it. However, if Rachel was not busy making pottery on any particular day, she was probably gone fishing somewhere.

Sadly, Rachel passed on in November, 2022.