San Felipe Pueblo Pottery

San Felipe has always had more arable land than most of the other pueblos and is still known for its agricultural products, although most people commute to work off-pueblo. The long-held isolationism of the San Felipe people has contributed to the loss of many traditional activities, including the making of pottery. The San Felipe pottery tradition was interrupted in the aftermath of the 1680 Pueblo Revolt and it never really got started again.

Prior to the revolt, the people of San Felipe, Santo Domingo and Cochiti were using lead ores mined in the nearby Cerrillos Hills to make a paint that fired to a thin glaze on their pots. After the Spanish returned to the area in the mid 1690s, they made the lead mines off-limits to the people, saving the lead to make bullets for themselves. There was some grayware made at San Felipe after that but most pottery in the pueblo came from Santo Domingo or from Zia.

Most San Felipe potters active today either learned the art on their own or learned from artisans at other pueblos. The revival of San Felipe pottery tradition is further complicated by the fact so few people remember where good clay might be found on pueblo lands.