Huma, Rondina

A member of the Hopi-Tewa Kachina/Parrot Clan, Rondina Huma was born in Keams Canyon, Arizona and has lived in the village of Polacca most of her life.

Rondina wasn’t born into one of the active Hopi-Tewa pottery families, she’s a self-taught potter who got into clay only at the urging of a neighbor. She studied the age-old techniques and methods and learned everything she could. Then she began to reproduce some of the fantastic designs she found on the ground while walking around the nearby ruins of Sikyátki.

Once she had the process down, she refined her production steps and concentrated on her painting. Today she is best known for her very intricate work reproducing hundreds of small square Sikyátki-Revival designs across the surfaces of her pottery.

Rondina has been one of the most in-demand Hopi-Tewa potters for years. She has been featured in many publications and her work is represented in major galleries and museums throughout the country.

Over the years Rondina has earned multiple ribbons from the prestigious Santa Fe Indian Market. In 1986 one of her pieces was awarded Best of Show, Best of Division and Best of Traditional Pottery. In 1996 another of her pieces swept all three awards again.

Rondina’s work is easily recognized for her intricate designs that incorporate hundreds of small elements. Her polish is exceptional and her painting remarkable. Unlike most potters, she usually polished the insides of her pots, too.

Her pottery is traditional in every manner – she did the full ancient Hopi process using nothing but native materials, even down to fashioning her paint brushes from the leaves of the yucca plant. She hand coiled all her vessels and used only vegetal and mineral paints. She also did traditional ground firing.

She signed her pottery “Rondina Huma Tewa-Hopi”, and added her clan symbol, a parrot. As of 2021, Rondina is still alive but her eyesight has been fading for years and she no longer makes pottery.