We have been looking at the stories of Indigenous female artists who have produced many fine works of art including beadwork, basketry, pottery, sculpting, quilting, patchwork, dolls, and clothing.
Turning earth into clay and then into pots is one of the oldest inventions of mankind. Some cultures and people are famous for their pottery such as the Persians, Italians, and Dutch and Native North Americans. One of the lesser known people groups is the indigenous women of Oaxaca. Recently, they have gained in well-deserved notoriety.
Women Potters of the San Marcos Tlapazola, Oaxaca
Our series is on Native American women. Oaxaca is not in the United States, but it is in central America. It is easy to visit there and if you ever go to Mexico I hope you will be able to visit some of the many artisan villages there. I included this story because the women who are making the pottery, especially the ones who are doing it in the ancient way, are really amazing and should be commended for their creativity and hard work.
There are around 70 villages in which the majority of the people are engaged in pottery making much of which is plain pottery. But one group – in San Marcos Tlapazola – specializes in beautiful pots for cookware serving. They follow traditional methods of making their pottery the pre-Hispanic style. The Oaxacans are famous for their red clay pottery and for the Barro Negro (black pottery).
We have a detailed account of what their typical day is like given to us by a North American turned Oaxacan – Alvin Starkman. Alvin was a lawyer and a social anthropologist who studied the Oaxacan culture and has been promoting their artistic creations for many years. He moved there permanently in 2004.[1] I will summarize his account hoping you will appreciate the hard work and creativity of the Oaxacan women.
Pottery making is a community activity. Some of the women fashion and fire the pottery. Some decorate the pottery. Many participate in the market selling their pottery on Sundays. A typical day may begin at 3 AM as the women make beverages such as tejate, a corn and cacao-based drink to sell at the market. Hungry shoppers can also sample chocolate-filled buns. The women enjoy their day of rest meeting people and socializing with the other Oaxacans. They earned this rest after a hard week of making pottery and other items.
The women must go out and gather the lumps of earth they need for forming clay. They also have to gather the sand that is necessary. They saddle up their mules or donkeys and put baskets on them and head out. They know which areas to search in for just the right dirt.
Back home they will knead the clay and form it into bowls, vases, or other vessels. The women will use their gathered lumps of earth which they then soak. They knead the mud along with a bit of sand while kneeling on a concrete floor. They know just when the clay is exactly right to form the pot or vase. Using a funnel they form a cone. They spin the item using sand as a buffer while shaping it. They build up on the bowl using clay rolls attaching them and keeping them even. They use corn cobs to smooth the outside. A gourd may be used to get the right shape for a vase. A strip of leather is used for a smooth finish.
Another woman may then begin to burnish the item. She might coat the bowl with a redder clay for example to create a terra cotta colored paint tone. One of the most fascinating things I learned about pottery making is that the color of the soil does not necessarily determine the color of the fired pot. Black clay from an area in Georgia, for example will turn a beautiful pink when fired. After decorating the pot, it is ready for baking. While the baking is going on, some women start the next batch of pots, bowls, vases, utensils or other cookware.
Sometimes an enterprising young man may gather the bundles to sell to the women. The women do not always purchase the twigs and wood they need for the fire. Instead, they search the hillsides for rotted logs, leaves, dry tumbleweed and other burnable material such as agave. They load the bundles onto their mules and take them home.
Some women in other villages may use above-the ground brick ovens and others use below-ground brick lined pits. But the women of San Marcos build a makeshift enclosure at ground level from whatever they can find to use such as a discarded bed spring, pieces of rusted wheel barrow, bent bicycle tire rim, old pieces of unusable metal, and broken pieces of pottery which did not survive a prior firing.
They make their oven by creating a circular base and then put the bedspring on top of layered bricks and rocks. This allows for the circulation they need for the firing. Sheets of metal are used on top and the sides to control the air coming in. Hot ash from cooking is shoveled in to fill in the crevices. When the fire is going, branches of agave are tossed on the multidirectional tunnels. Care is taken to control the fire. Of course, they don’t want rain or a very windy day!
At the end of the week after the all the baking is done and the pots are cooled, the oven will be disassembled. The women will wash and dry the pots and wrap them, ready for sale at the Sunday market. Another week of gathering mud and sand, material for the fire, fashioning pots, decorating them, baking them, cooling and wrapping is over.
I appreciate the artists in Mexico who produce all of the pottery but I especially admire the women of Oaxaca who make the pottery in the old traditional way. It is impressive that they are keeping an ancient tradition alive. Each one of their pieces is completely unique and very beautiful.
I tried to explain in words how the women make the pottery in the old fashioned way but a picture is worth a thousand words and a video is worth ten thousand words. Please enjoy the following:
Video – San Marcos Tlapazola: Home of Oaxaca’s Red Clay Pottery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgl97BJBzag
Dona Sophia Making Traditional Black Pottery in Oaxaca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJk63tQ5IN4
[1] If you would like to get a taste of old world Mexico you can stay at Casa Machaya operated by Alvin Starkman.
Native American Women Potters in Oaxaca
Making and selling pottery is the lifeblood of their economic existence.
We have been looking at the stories of Indigenous female artists who have produced many fine works of art including beadwork, basketry, pottery, sculpting, quilting, patchwork, dolls, and clothing.
Turning earth into clay and then into pots is one of the oldest inventions of mankind. Some cultures and people are famous for their pottery such as the Persians, Italians, and Dutch and Native North Americans. One of the lesser known people groups is the indigenous women of Oaxaca. Recently, they have gained in well-deserved notoriety.
Women Potters of the San Marcos Tlapazola, Oaxaca
Our series is on Native American women. Oaxaca is not in the United States, but it is in central America. It is easy to visit there and if you ever go to Mexico I hope you will be able to visit some of the many artisan villages there. I included this story because the women who are making the pottery, especially the ones who are doing it in the ancient way, are really amazing and should be commended for their creativity and hard work.
There are around 70 villages in which the majority of the people are engaged in pottery making much of which is plain pottery. But one group – in San Marcos Tlapazola – specializes in beautiful pots for cookware serving. They follow traditional methods of making their pottery the pre-Hispanic style. The Oaxacans are famous for their red clay pottery and for the Barro Negro (black pottery).
We have a detailed account of what their typical day is like given to us by a North American turned Oaxacan – Alvin Starkman. Alvin was a lawyer and a social anthropologist who studied the Oaxacan culture and has been promoting their artistic creations for many years. He moved there permanently in 2004.[1] I will summarize his account hoping you will appreciate the hard work and creativity of the Oaxacan women.
Pottery making is a community activity. Some of the women fashion and fire the pottery. Some decorate the pottery. Many participate in the market selling their pottery on Sundays. A typical day may begin at 3 AM as the women make beverages such as tejate, a corn and cacao-based drink to sell at the market. Hungry shoppers can also sample chocolate-filled buns. The women enjoy their day of rest meeting people and socializing with the other Oaxacans. They earned this rest after a hard week of making pottery and other items.
The women must go out and gather the lumps of earth they need for forming clay. They also have to gather the sand that is necessary. They saddle up their mules or donkeys and put baskets on them and head out. They know which areas to search in for just the right dirt.
Back home they will knead the clay and form it into bowls, vases, or other vessels. The women will use their gathered lumps of earth which they then soak. They knead the mud along with a bit of sand while kneeling on a concrete floor. They know just when the clay is exactly right to form the pot or vase. Using a funnel they form a cone. They spin the item using sand as a buffer while shaping it. They build up on the bowl using clay rolls attaching them and keeping them even. They use corn cobs to smooth the outside. A gourd may be used to get the right shape for a vase. A strip of leather is used for a smooth finish.
Another woman may then begin to burnish the item. She might coat the bowl with a redder clay for example to create a terra cotta colored paint tone. One of the most fascinating things I learned about pottery making is that the color of the soil does not necessarily determine the color of the fired pot. Black clay from an area in Georgia, for example will turn a beautiful pink when fired. After decorating the pot, it is ready for baking. While the baking is going on, some women start the next batch of pots, bowls, vases, utensils or other cookware.
Sometimes an enterprising young man may gather the bundles to sell to the women. The women do not always purchase the twigs and wood they need for the fire. Instead, they search the hillsides for rotted logs, leaves, dry tumbleweed and other burnable material such as agave. They load the bundles onto their mules and take them home.
Some women in other villages may use above-the ground brick ovens and others use below-ground brick lined pits. But the women of San Marcos build a makeshift enclosure at ground level from whatever they can find to use such as a discarded bed spring, pieces of rusted wheel barrow, bent bicycle tire rim, old pieces of unusable metal, and broken pieces of pottery which did not survive a prior firing.
They make their oven by creating a circular base and then put the bedspring on top of layered bricks and rocks. This allows for the circulation they need for the firing. Sheets of metal are used on top and the sides to control the air coming in. Hot ash from cooking is shoveled in to fill in the crevices. When the fire is going, branches of agave are tossed on the multidirectional tunnels. Care is taken to control the fire. Of course, they don’t want rain or a very windy day!
At the end of the week after the all the baking is done and the pots are cooled, the oven will be disassembled. The women will wash and dry the pots and wrap them, ready for sale at the Sunday market. Another week of gathering mud and sand, material for the fire, fashioning pots, decorating them, baking them, cooling and wrapping is over.
I appreciate the artists in Mexico who produce all of the pottery but I especially admire the women of Oaxaca who make the pottery in the old traditional way. It is impressive that they are keeping an ancient tradition alive. Each one of their pieces is completely unique and very beautiful.
I tried to explain in words how the women make the pottery in the old fashioned way but a picture is worth a thousand words and a video is worth ten thousand words. Please enjoy the following:
Video – San Marcos Tlapazola: Home of Oaxaca’s Red Clay Pottery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgl97BJBzag
Dona Sophia Making Traditional Black Pottery in Oaxaca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJk63tQ5IN4
[1] If you would like to get a taste of old world Mexico you can stay at Casa Machaya operated by Alvin Starkman.
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And why should not women enter the ministry? The mother heart of God will never be known to the world until translated into speech by mother-hearted women.
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