Unknown Laguna Potter

Pottery was being made in the environs of Laguna Pueblo more than a thousand years ago but production dropped off in the 1880s, after the railroad arrived. The agreement struck between the railroad and the pueblo that allowed the railroad to proceed directly across Laguna land also gave many Laguna men steady paid work. By the 1920s hardly any pottery was being made at Laguna, the Lagunas preferring to trade with their Acoma Pueblo neighbors for any pottery they needed.

The Traditional Arts Revival wave that had swept across other pueblos finally lit a fire at Laguna in 1973. Before that there wasn’t much reason for a Laguna potter to sign their work. There weren’t many potters to sign their work anyway. But that was the year Evelyn Cheromiah taught 2 four-month classes in pottery making as the Laguna Arts and Crafts Project. The project turned out about 70 pottery artists and many of those have taught their kids since.