Polychrome Hopi-Tewa Small Jar [SOLD]

Rainy Naha is a daughter of Helen Naha (1st Feather Woman) and the granddaughter of Paqua Naha (1st Frog Woman).  Her siblings are Burel, Sylvia, and Rechenda. She signs her pottery with the traditional feather hallmark used by her mom and then adds the initial R.

Rainy divided the design area into six sections, each with a square containing a sun symbol.  Suspended from a line encircling the neck area are six triangles, each with cross hatching.

A few words from Rainy would be enlightening to understand the thought process of young potential potters as they struggle with traditional pueblo life.

“I’ve been around pots most all my life growing up.  I didn’t see it as I do today.  A young person sees things differently.  It was a burden to make finances come together, so we helped our mom [Helen Naha].  It was a chore, but at that time I really didn’t understand it.  I left at eight and moved to Utah, and I’d come home every summer.  I didn’t have too much social interaction with the villagers.

“I came back in 1989.  I wanted to find my roots.  I needed to come home, and I wanted to learn this [pottery making] while I had the greatest teacher alive [Helen Naha]. There’s been a tremendous amount of growth, and I see myself as an artist in traditional pots.  I know what I need to stay within those limits.  I’m a potter, a competitive runner, I raise cattle, and I volunteer at the high school.  I tried my hand at politics, and that only lasted a year!”  Dillingham 1994

Condition: very good condition with a couple very minor abrasions

Reference: Fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery by Rick Dillingham

Provenance: from the collection of a family formerly of Albuquerque now living in Colorado

Rainy Naha (1949- ) Featherwoman Rainy

Artist Photo Source:

Tom Tallant courtesy of Gregory Schaaf.

Artist Photo Source: Tom Tallant courtesy of Gregory Schaaf.

Halmark Image: Adobe Gallery

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