The cottonwood tree-lined banks of the Rio Grande create a ribbon of bright green flow behind the home of Judy and Lincoln Tafoya on Santa Clara Pueblo just south of Española. To the south, the prominent landmark of Black Mesa rises at the boundary between the Santa Clara Land Grant and that of the neighboring pueblo of San Ildefonso.
“In the fall, it is all gold back here,” Lincoln Tafoya said, referring to the changing color of the leaves on the cottonwood trees.
Lying in the shadow of the Valle Grande and the Jemez Mountains, Santa Clara has been the home of and sustained its 980 residents since the middle of the 16th century, when the ancestors of the present-day inhabitants moved from the cliff dwellings that lay to the west at Puyé to the fertile fields along the Rio Grande, according to Margaret Tafoya’s “A Tewa Potter’s Heritage and Legacy.”
In the Tewa language spoken by its residents, Santa Clara is known as Khap’o Owingeh, Khap’o means “where roses grow near water” and Owingeh is the word for village. The name Santa Clara was given to the village by Fray Alonzo de Benavidez in 1626, after the area was colonized by Spanish settlers from Mexico in 1598 during an expedition led by Don Juan de Oñate.
The Tafoyas moved into their home built by the United States government 17 years ago and have eight children. The modest home is filled with the energy of life and all that goes with it in such a large family. At a small table between the living room and the kitchen, Judy Tafoya’s hands work a lump of clay that Lincoln had gathered from a site on Santa Clara lands as her three-year old granddaughter Lloydine tugs at her sleeve and one of the family’s dogs puts his paws on her leg.
Lincoln had gathered the clay and it had been dried and then soaked in a bucket. After screening the clay to remove rocks and pieces of vegetation, white sand, also screened, is added to temper the clay so it will bind together.
Rolling and stretching the soft, brown clay with her hands, Judy Tafoya makes a coil of clay. Tewa pottery is made by the hand coil method. After a lump of clay has been flattened and shaped to provide the base, individual coils are added carefully around the base and the process of building the pot begins.
“No two pots are the same,” Judy Tafoya said. “No two designs are the same.”
When the name “Santa Clara” comes up in conversation, one of the associations that comes to mind is that of finely crafted Native American pottery. In the upscale galleries in nearby Santa Fe, the classic style most easily recognized is that of pottery with a lustrous finish.
The evolution of pueblo pottery from its humble utilitarian beginnings to its present day status as valuable art objects with individual pieces of the well-known artists selling for thousands of dollars is intertwined with the history of Santa Clara and its people.
History
Following the colonization of New Mexico by Oñate, attempts to suppress the religious and cultural practices of Santa Clara and the surrounding pueblos led to a revolt in 1680. Under the leadership of Po’pay, a religious leader from Ohkay Owingeh, the pueblo just north of Santa Clara where the Spanish had established their first settlement, the pueblos united and revolted against their colonial oppressors. The Spanish were driven from what is now New Mexico.
Although the end of the revolt is officially listed as 1692, the Tewa Indians of Northern New Mexico continued to hold out. The warriors from Santa Clara and surrounding pueblos fought back from the top of Black Mesa until finally surrendering in 1694, according to “Margaret Tafoya: A Tewa Potter’s Heritage and Legacy.”
After the reconquest of Santa Clara and the other pueblos, the colony was ruled by Spain until 1821. It was during this period that Santa Clara began focusing on finished, unpainted pottery, according to L. Frank and F. H. Harlow in “Historic Pottery of the Pueblo Indians.”
From 1821 until 1846, what is now New Mexico was part of Mexico, which had become an independent nation. During this period, trade with the United States began via the Santa Fe Trail, which stretched from St. Louis. Mo., to Santa Fe.
In 1846, the United States and Mexico were at war and Stephen Kearney marched into Santa Fe, claiming it for the United States.
Following the end of the Mexican-American war, New Mexico became a territory of the United States. Land ownership became an issue following the change as settlers moved into the area, taking over lands that had traditionally been considered as belonging to the Spanish settlers and the pueblos. In 1864, the Santa Clara Land Grant was recognized by the United States government and title assigned to the pueblo, according to “A Tewa Potter’s Heritage and Legacy.”
In 1879, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad established a line onto Santa Clara land and the town of Española was founded on what had been Santa Clara land. During this period, the lives of the residents of Santa Clara changed dramatically as the Pueblo was opened up to visitors from across the United States. A spur line was completed from Santa Fe and the railroad became known as the “Chili Line,” bringing in even more visitors.
“The railroad brought in a lot of tourists and that’s how the pottery that was used everyday in our homes turned into art,” Toni Roller, daughter of Maragaret Tafoya, said.
Prior to the arrival of the railroad and the introductions of manufactured items, the pottery of Santa Clara was used for such everyday activities as food storage and preparation and the carrying of water from the areas streams and springs to homes. Some of the pottery pieces were very large, particularly those meant to store food or carry water.
As the tourist industry grew, the new arrivals began to purchase the pottery when they visited Santa Clara Pueblo.
“The women of the village would bring vegetables and baked goods for the tourists to buy, but they wanted to buy the containers,” Roller said. “They sold them for $5 in those days.”
In 1904, Margaret Tafoya was born. She was the daughter of Geronimo and Sara Fina Tafoya. Sara Fina was an accomplished potter. Margaret would go on to become one of the most famous potters from Santa Clara and her family continues the tradition of finely crafted pottery.
The Legacy of
Margaret Tafoya
Roller, born in 1935, patiently works on a piece of pottery in the studio and gallery that her family now maintains on Santa Clara. She is polishing a piece of pottery and talks as she works, The pottery pieces have already been formed, carved and sanded. After sanding, a clay slip is applied. The first few coats are allowed to dry, but the final coats are not and must be polished without stopping. Polishing is the final step before firing. “The thing is we can’t take a break,” she said. “If we stop it will dry and crack like a mud puddle in the sun.”
The pot is polished using a special stone. Polishing stones are valued greatly and passed down from mother to daughter. Roller believes that some of the stones she uses may have been used by Sara Fina.
“When I go away I put my stones in a safety deposit box,” Roller said. “They are the one thing I use that cannot be replaced.”
Roller remembers when Santa Clara was a simpler place and everyone lived within the pueblo.
“In those days there was just no such thing as being rich,” she said. “We would go in a wagon to get the clay. You knew everyone in the pueblo.”
Roller came from a big family. Margaret and her husband Alcario had 10 children of their own and adopted three more.
“My parents had a lot of cattle,” she said. “We had chickens, rabbits and two milk cows. We’d churn butter while doing our homework.”
Becoming a potter came naturally to Roller. She watched her mother make large storage pots for holding bread.
“They would hold 35 loaves and it seemed like it didn’t get moldy,” she said. “As children we would watch what they were doing and make our own marbles from the clay.”
Working in the studio with Roller is her grandson Jordan, who attends New Mexico State University.
“It teaches me a lot of patience; you can’t rush it or you’ll mess it up,” he said. “I know I’m handling the same clay my ancestors handled doing what they used to do.”
Jordan Roller is studying herbal medicine in college, continuing another family tradition that traces back to his great, great grandmother Sara Fina.
“My grandmother was a medicine woman,” Toni Roller said. “She grew her medicines in a little garden. She delivered me when I was born.”
As Roller works, she speaks her mind on a tribal matter that concerns her and involves Jordan.
“Because I married outside the pueblo, my children (and grandchildren) are not considered tribal members, even though they’re counted as members during the census,” she said.
Roller’s children and grandchildren cannot vote in tribal elections.
Santa Clara became the first pueblo to incorporate under the federal Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. The Constitution and Bylaws of the Pueblo were approved in 1935 and Article III defines the Organization of its Ruling Council, which consists of a governor, lieutenant governor, eight representatives, secretary, interpreter and sheriff. All the members of the council are required to speak fluent Tewa.
An election is held the first Saturday of every year and the council members are elected to one-year terms. Every member of the pueblo of Santa Clara who is of sane mind and over 18 may vote, according to the Constitution.
In 1939, according to Toni Roller, the council decided that the children of men who married outside the pueblo were tribal members, but that the children of women who married outside the pueblo were not.
“There was an Army Camp at Los Alamos and they didn’t want the blood to thin out,” Roller said. “My parents advised my sister and I to look elsewhere for a husband because in the pueblo we are all related.”
Toni Roller and her sister, Mela, both married non-members.
A lawsuit by Julia Martinez on behalf of her daughter challenging the rule made it all the way to the United States Supreme Court in 1979, where the court ruled 7-1 in favor of the Pueblo.
Growth/Development
Although the “Chili Line” closed in 1941, Española has continued to grow and expand onto Santa Clara lands. The establishment of nearby Los Alamos National Labaratory brought further growth and jobs to the area.
Española is built largely on Santa Clara Pueblo land. In the 1950s and through the 1980s the business center of Española was Big Rock Shopping Center, where there was a Safeway Grocery Store, a drug store and a TG&Y variety store. The shopping center sat on Santa Clara land.
Those businesses are now gone and the former shopping center is now home to Big Rock Casino and Big Rock Bowling Center, which are now part of Santa Clara Development Corporation.
The city’s location on tribal lands has led to long-simmering battles between the two entities. The city and the Pueblo are currently working on a financial settlement that would pay the Pueblo for the city using easements that had been outstanding for years.
The city’s lack of control over how private entities develop Santa Clara land within city limits also led to lawsuits and a very public battle between the city and the Pueblo, when VH Investments owned by Lloyd and Vivian Hrivnak, attempted to build a mobile home park next to Fairview Elementary.
In an attempt to stop the development, the city tried to exert its alleged authority over non-tribal entities developing on tribal land, a label that applies to the developer, The city pressed a lawsuit against the Pueblo in order to enforce a 2003 ordinance. It lost the suit and never appealed the decision. Development plans moved forward.
The Corporation also includes Black Mesa Golf Club, completed in 2000 and now one of the top-rated courses in America, and the Santa Clara Travel Center, which sits on the Los Alamos Highway.
In 2007, the Corporation reported a distribution of $2.7 million to its shareholders, which according to the corporation reflects one-half if its net profit. The other half of the Corporation’s net profit is distributed to Santa Clara Pueblo.
Some would like to know where that money goes.
“When I came back to Santa Clara, we were a leader among the Pueblos,” Lincoln Tafoya said. “Now I see that all the other tribes have passed us by.”
The housing development of where Judy and Lincoln Tafoya live has no playgrounds.
“Look at all they could do,” Judy Tafoya said.
Two years ago, the Casino was renovated to include a new restaurant and convention center and plans call for a new hotel.
Santa Clara Governor J. Michael Chavarria called the Rio Grande SUN last week to request that the SUN stop work on this story until the Pueblo Council approved it. The SUN did not acquiesce to this request, and multiple calls to the governor’s office have not been returned since Chavarria called.
But during all of this growth, the Pueblo was hit by a catastrophe.
The disastrous Cerro Grande forest fire of 2000 had a major impact on Santa Clara. The fire burned over 44.000 acres, destroyed over 200 homes in nearby Los Alamos and devastated the area around Santa Clara Canyon and the Puyé cliff dwelling ruins belonging to Santa Clara. The Pueblo considers Puyé to be its ancestral home.
The Santa Clara Economic Development Department negotiated a $79 million settlement with Federal Emergency Management Administration. Among the projects in the restoration were the repaving and reconstruction of Route 601, the road to Puyé and the reforestation of the Cerro Grande burn area. Once a popular tourist destination, Puyé has remained closed to the public ever since the fire.
The Corporation said in 2007 that it planned a reopening of Puyé in the spring of 2008, but as of August 2008, Puyé remained closed to the public.
Santa Clara Canyon was once a popular fishing destination. It has reopened, but now tribal members are charged a fee.
“I guess it’s to help with the Casino,” Toni Roller said.
Passing Traditions
Judy Tafoya was born in California in 1961 to Cecelia Naranjo, daughter of Christina Naranjo, the sister of Margaret Tafoya. When Judy was 2 years old, both her parents died. She was one of six children.
“They put us on a train and sent us here (Santa Clara) where we were adopted by our extended family,” Judy Tafoya said. “I got to watch Margaret and Christina make pots and got the best of both.”
Margaret was very focused on making pots and creating larger pieces, while Christina laughed a lot and was always kidding around, according to Judy Tafoya.
As she finishes working on her pots, Judy and Lincoln prepare for the critical final step of firing. It is done in the traditional way.
“If you are not in the right frame of mind, don’t fire,” Judy Tafoya said. “I’m always asking Lincoln, ‘Are you all right, do you feel good?’”
The pots are packed on a rack outside. The wood, cottonwood and cedar bark, is stacked around the pots. According to Judy Tafoya, the firing lasts 15-20 minutes.
To obtain the traditional black sheen, the fire is then smothered with manure. Santa Clara is also known for its red, carved pottery. The manure smothering is omitted if this is the desired product.
Judy Tafoya’s carved pots, her specialty, are now done. Lincoln Tafoya produces etched pots, where the design is carved into the pots after firing.
“It is an honor to have the gift of pottery and be able to pass it on to our children,” Judy Tafoya said.
The Santa Clara Community Library is also doing its part to pass on a very important part of the Pueblo. It has computers for the use of the Public, offers music lessons and during the summer hosted a Tewa immersion program that teaches younger members of the Pueblo the language of Santa Clara.
The Summer Immersion program’s goal is to ensure the language is not lost. When everyone lived together in the Pueblo, Tewa was spoken regularly, but now that is not the case
Tewa is an oral language through which the traditions of Santa Clara are passed on. If the language is lost, so is the culture.
“A lot of people don’t know about Santa Clara,” student Rachel Simmerman, 14, said. “Our tradition and culture could be lost forever, so I like to learn it.”