The making of Santa Clara Pueblo traditional pottery is a long strenuous process that has been passed down from many generations. It could take six months to a year or longer to create a piece of pottery. From the mountains we gather earth clay and ash. We then sift the clay materials through a window screen to get the rock debris out. We then let nature take it's course to dry what we gathered and sifted. This could take over a month to do. Once the clay is the right consistancy we lay a tarp on our kitchen floor and mix together by stepping on it. We then use the coiling method to make the pots. After the pots have dried completely we then use polishing stones to give the pottery it's shine by hand. By collecting wood chips, slabs, and horse manure from our area we can finally outside pit fire the pottery. The pottery is now ready to be etched and if needed a stone will then be applied.
