Mary Cain
Santa Clara
Friendship
Basket
4" H
x 4" D
Mary Cain, whose Tewa name
was Blue Rain, was born in 1915 into the Santa Clara Pueblo and
passed away in 2010 at the age of 95. She began hand coiling
traditional Santa Clara pottery in 1930. According to Mary, Pottery
has been a part of her family heritage since as long as her great
grandmother can recall.
Marys mother, Cristina
Naranjo, inspired and encouraged her to continue the long lived
tradition of working with clay. Her grandmother, Serafina Tafoya,
was also a great inspiration to her. Mary can trace her roots
back to great, great grandparents Sarafina and Geronimo Tafoya.
Mary specialized in traditional
hand coiled black on black or red Santa Clara hand polished pottery,
with carvings of water serpents and bear paws. Mary says, I
love the work and will continue to do this for as long as I can.
She passed on the gift to her daughter Linda, as well as her
grand-daughters Tammy Garcia and Autum Borts-Medlock.
In 2008, Cain received a lifetime
achievement award from the Southwestern Association for Indian
Arts.
Publications:
-Fourteen Families in Pueblo
Pottery
-Talking with the Clay
-Southwest Pottery Anasazi to Zuni
-Pueblo Indian Pottery 750 Artist Biographies
Awards:
-Santa Fe Indian Market 1st,
2nd, & 3rd Place
-Eighth Northern Pueblo Exhibit 1st & 2nd Place
-New Mexico State Fair 1st Place