Sylvia Naha
(d.)
Twin Turtles
2 1/2"
H x 2 3/4" D
Sylvia Naha, member of the
Spider Clan, was born in 1951 into the Hopi-Tewa Reservation.
Sylvia passed away in August of 1999, at the age of 48.
She is the grand daughter
of the late “Paqua Naha”, who was among the most famous
and prolific Hopi-Tewa potters to ever have lived. Paqua’s
first name means “frog” in the Spanish language. She
is known as “Frog Woman”.
Sylvia specializes in hand
coiled Hopi white slip pottery. She learned all the fundamentals
of traditional pottery making from her mother, Helen “Feather
Woman” Naha.
Helen's children signed their
pottery with a feather, and their first initial when they were
young, and now each has developed their own signature retaining
the feather.
Sylvia's signature remained
the same: a feather, punctuated by the letter 'S'. Sylvia won
many awards over the years.
Sylvia gathers her clay and
other materials from the Hopi lands including natural pigments
used for color on her pottery. She cleans, mixes, shapes, sands,
paints, and fires her pottery outdoors, the traditional way with
sheep dung. Many of the designs Sylvia paints on her pottery
are Helen’s but she will incorporate them with her own.
Sylvia is related to: Rainy
Naha (Sister), Burel Naha (brother), Joy “Frog Woman II”Navasie
(aunt), Dee Setalla (cousin), Eunice “Fawn” Navasie,
and Dawn Navasie (cousin).
Publications:
-Southwestern Pottery Anasazi to Zuni
-Fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery
-Hopi-Tewa Pottery 500 Artist Biographies
-Southwestern Pottery 1999 Edition
