JACKIE SHUTIVA-HISTIA
(Acoma Pueblo b.1961 – present)
Jackie Shutiva-Histia was born in 1961 into the Acoma Pueblo. She is a member of the Sun Clan and the Yellow Corn Child Clan. Jackie’s mother, Stella Shutiva, taught her the traditional methods of working with clay. Stella Shutiva of Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico was a potter of great re-known who specialized in recreating the corrugated wares of prehistoric times. Her mother (Jackie’s grandmother), noted potter Jessie Garcia, is credited with reviving the corrugated ware, and inspiring Stella to continue in her tradition and Stella inspired her daughter, Jackie, to do the same. Stella Shutiva, began teaching Jackie the art of traditional pottery creation about the time she turned 19, the same as she taught Jackie's brother Wilfred Garcia. Stella shared all the fundamentals of working with clay and using ancient hand coiling methods.
After Stella passed away, in 1997, her husband Ernest Shutiva, gave her tools to their daughter, Jackie.
Jackie specializes in hand coiled, traditional, contemporary, corrugated pottery similar to some of the pottery of the prehistoric Anasazi and Hohokam cultures. She primarily works with white-ware, too, marrying the new Acoma clays with the old forms and designs. She gathers her clumps of raw clay from within the Acoma Pueblo. Then she breaks down the clumps into a fine powder form and mixes with sand to temper the clay. Once the clay has been properly cleaned and mixed Jackie begins the hand coiling process by rolling the clay into snake like coils and building a vessel to a desired shape and size. Then, she hand-pinches her thumbnails into the clay to give it that corrugated look. She uses an octagonal carpenter's pencil that was inherited from her mother to make the corrugations in each coil of a pot. The result, in Acoma's pure white clay, is like festive frosting, but also very like the pots found in archeological digs - only cleaner and in one piece. Finally, she fires her pottery the traditional way, outdoors. On occasion Jackie also hand crafts clay corn symbols in her clay to denote her Clan origin. Jackie hand coils a wide variety of shapes and sizes of pottery.
She signs her pottery: Histia Shutiva, Acoma, NM. (Jackie has signed her pottery in different names over the years. Early on she used: "Histia Shutiva, Acoma, NM". Lately it's been "J.M. Shutiva,Acoma NM" or "J. Montano Shutiva, Acoma NM".)
She is related to B. Gregory Histia (spouse), Shelly Shutiva, Alicia Shutiva and Lindsey Shutiva (daughters).
Acoma Pueblo, often called “Sky City,” is built on top of a near 400-foot mesa approximately 72 miles west of Albuquerque, New Mexico and near Enchanted Mesa. Acoma potters are blessed with one of the finest natural clay sources and when it is mixed with a crushed potsherd temper it produces a very thin walled and light weight pottery. This thin walled construction had been another trademark for the generations of the Shutiva potters. The pottery-making tradition of Acoma Pueblo is one of the most significant among the surviving pueblos of the American Southwest, and the craft continues to be important and profitable there today. Pottery made at Acoma has evolved considerably in form and decoration over the last seven centuries. The pottery-making tradition of Acoma Pueblo is one of the most significant among the surviving pueblos of the American Southwest, and the craft continues to be important and profitable there today. Pottery made at Acoma has evolved considerably in form and decoration over the last seven centuries. The work of Stella Shutiva is a classic example of this evolution and now with generations advancing this style, it is now referred to as the “Shutiva Style”.
Jackie has said pottery making “is my way of expressing my creations – new and old. Through my mother, I’m carrying on the tradition. For me it is a way of relaxation.”
AWARDS:
-New Mexico State Fair
-Eight Northern Arts and Crafts Show
-Southwest Indian Arts Show
-Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonial, Gallup, New Mexico
-Santa Fe Indian Market, Santa Fe, New Mexico
-Heard Museum Show, Phoenix, Arizona
PUBLICATIONS:
- “Southern Pueblo Pottery 2,000 Artist Biographies”, Dr. Gregory Schaaf
- “Talking with The Clay”, Trimble
- “Southwestern Pottery Anasazi to Zuni”, Hayes and Blom (referenced from the Pueblo Pottery Maine website on 11/12/15).
