Natseway, Thomas

Thomas Natseway was born to Betty and Pete Natseway of Laguna Pueblo in April, 1953. He didn’t know much about making pottery until he met his wife, Charmae Shields. He was employed as a journalist at the time and was sent to interview Charmae. One meeting was enough, they both fell in love and were shortly married. After that he moved to her home and began an in-depth course in learning the traditional art of making pottery from Charmae and her mother, Ethel Shields.

Today, Thomas says “I love my work, especially miniatures. I love the challenge of making miniatures.” He says he used to participate “in all the shows, but not any more.” These days he says the Heard Museum Show and Santa Fe Indian Market are enough for him.

Some of Thomas’ pieces are in the permanent collections of the Denver Art Museum, the Albuquerque Art Museum, the San Diego Museum of Man, the University of Nebraska Art Museum and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.

Thomas tells us his favorite pots to make are miniature reproductions of ancient Laguna pots. He has a very large collection of “hard cover pottery books” and is always looking through them for new ideas. He also likes to visit museums and delve into local archives.

It’s hard to get Thomas to talk about himself. His wife Charmae says “Thomas is just like Gentle Ben. He loves his family, his nieces and nephews” and “he gives, very kind hearted, sacrifices for his family.”

Some Recent Awards Earned by Thomas

• 2023 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II-F, Category 1001 – Traditional miniatures, Second Place
• 2023 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II-F, Category 1003, – Miniature figures, including sets, First Place