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Darlene James Nampeyo 1956- |
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Darlene Nampeyo, from the Hopi-Tewa Corn Clan, is a great-great granddaughter of noted potter Nampeyo of Hano as a descendant through Nampeyo’s eldest daughter Annie and Annie's eldest daughter Rachel. Her mother is Ruth James, a sister of Dextra Quotskuyva, Eleanor Lucas and Priscilla Namingha.
She began making pottery in 1968 learning the art from her aunts, Dextra Quotsquyva and Priscilla Namingha well as from her grandmother, Rachel Namingha.
The designs are all painted with bee-weed (black) and then traditionally fired to create the blushes on the clay surface. Darlene digs her clay from different locales around First Mesa and ancestral Hopi villages.
Darlene is mentioned in Rick Dillingham book Fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery (page 55). She follows like most Hopi families the techniques & style developed by the matriarch Nampeyo (Sikyatki Revival).
Darlene has won ribbons at events such as Santa Fe Indian Market and the Heard Museum Market. Her pottery can be found in museums throughout the Southwest.
