Nampeyo, Rayvin

Rayvin Garcia Nampeyo was born in 1961, the son of Leah Nampeyo of Hopi and Lewis Garcia of Laguna Pueblo. Among his siblings were James Garcia and Melda Nampeyo. Their father passed on in 1968, their mother in 1974. After that they were in the care of their grandmother, Fannie Nampeyo. Fannie taught them all the basics of making pottery the traditional way.

Rayvin was born in the Keams Canyon Hospital and attended the Polacca Day School. He started high school at Tuba City High but when his mother died, he transferred to the Laguna-Acoma High School. When he was home, he was almost attached to Fannie at the hip and watched her making pottery often. He learned quickly and was producing jars similar to hers for the marketplace while he was still a teenager. He still likes to make black-and-red-on-yellow jars with migration pattern designs.