Native American Pottery

Introduction

Studies across various cultures through centuries have shown that each society had some pottery that they had developed and was unique to their way of life. More commonly, societies which were involved in farming did not lack pottery art. Native Americans were not left out in this art as they developed their form of pottery as other cultures had done over the course of time. Pottery can be described as fired ceramics which contain clay as a main component. As a result, this ceramics often have a lot of uses as they can be used as musical instruments, funerary urns, cooking vessels, censers, toys, masks, sculptures, storage and serving vessels just to mention but a few. In light of this, this paper will focus on the Native American Pottery to establish the different kinds and areas which they were found as well as the tribe which they belonged to.

History of the Native American Pottery 

According to research, the earliest Native-Pottery first appeared around 4000 BC. Nonetheless, there has been more evidence which has shown some pottery dating from 13,000 BC (Cooper, 2002). This form of pottery was associated with Asian hunter-gatherer tribe during the period. A point to note is that the most widely recognized Native American pottery was believed to originate from a civilization of the American Southwest. However, the earliest form of this pottery was in fact found on the Stalling Island which is near Augusta in Georgia and is over 4500 years old. Other ceramics found from northern Florida cultures have dated back to 2460 BC while others found in Nebo Hill, Missouri dated back to 1750 BC. Moreover, the art of pottery making in the southwestern side of the United States started at Chaco area, currently known as the New Mexico (Weinstein & Dumas, 2008). The oldest pottery in this region is believed to be over 3600 years.

Technique of Making the Pottery 

The Native American Pottery was mainly hand built using either the slab or the coil technique (National Park Services, 2015). Clay was the component which was used for the potter and thus had to be mined and purified to remove debris and add to it temper and water. Tempers are non-plastic materials which were added to clay to prevent it from shrinking as well as cracking during the drying process or firing. The tempers that were often used included crushed rocks, crushed shells, plant fibers, charcoal, or wood ash. Most of the time, different tribes organized a ceremonious protocol during the gathering of clay. Subsequently, every tribe adopted its way of processing clay. The alternatives included drying the clay in the sun, or soaking it in water for several days and after that running it repeatedly through a sieve or a screen.

During the preparation of the clay, the potters would then spend many hours wedging it in order to remove all air pockets as well as humidity which could have easily caused its explosion during firing. The clay is then left for a significant period of time to “cure,” (National Park Services, 2015). The clay was then formed into a pot using the desired technique, and its surface was smoothed and dried to leather. Its surface would then be polished or sanded suing wet stones in order to create a smooth surface. When the pot dried, it was then decorated and finally fired.

A point to note is that not all Native American pottery required new tempers. In some tribes such as the Hopi, they used Kaolin clay which did not require additional tempers. This is because some clay had enough tempers naturally and thus they did not require additional tempers. For instance, the mica or the sand particles in clay acted as the temper, and the Taos, Picuris pueblo alongside the Hopi used it. The temper used in the potter helped a great deal in the identification of pottery from different cultures. For instance, the sandstone and grog sand was associated with the ancestral pueblo individuals as well as other southwestern culture. When it came to crushed bones, these tempers were used by cultures which inhabited the Texas region. While on the Southeastern side of the United States, the inhabitants used Spanish moss as well as palmetto leaves in tampering. In Louisiana, they first used grog as the tempering material, and it was later replaced with shells.

Furthermore, tribes which inhabited Florida, as well as coastal Georgia, used sand instead of fiber as their tampering materials. Later on, they picked up the use of freshwater sponge as their tempering methods. The Lucayan people who lived in the Bahamas were mostly associated with using crushed conch shell as tempering instead of using “quartz sand-tempered ware” which was initially from Hispaniola (National Park Services, 2015). As such, it is evident that in the Native Pottery, the tempering material was quit crucial as it helped them to design proper vessels. However, the choice of the tempering material was limited by their availability. Nonetheless, from the tempering material, individuals could easily understand the way of life of different tribes.

Where the Pottery Was Discovered and the Tribe They Belonged To 

Pottery associated with the Acoma tribe and the Zuni were found at the Presidion San Agustin del Tucson. Subsequently, a Sikyatki Revival seed jar which belonged to the Hopi tribe, dating from 1900 was discovered at Tucson on Block 91(Cooper, 2002).

According to research, the earliest ceramics from the Native American tribes were found mainly in the lower Amazon Basin. Basically, those potteries from Caverna de Pedra Pintada, which were near Santarem, in Brazil were believed to be over 5,000year. In this regions as well, the ceramics from Taperinha were dated to be around 6000 to 7000 years ago (Cooper, 2002). In the Northern side of South America, as well as the western side there were a few ceramics which were discovered in the region. Moreover, there were those which were found in Guyana believed to be of the Alaka culture and dated to 6000 years to 4500 years. Those found in Colombia were associated with the San Jacinto culture and dated about 4530BCE. Also in Colombia, ceramics which were associated with the Puerto Hormiga were discovered in the region and were believed to date 3794BCE. In Ecuador, ceramics dating 3200BCE were discovered and closely associated with the Valdivia culture. In Peru, pottery of the Pandanche culture was found and dated approximately 2460BCE.

Consequently, the spread of the Mesoamerica followed after that. In Panama, pottery from Monagrillo was discovered, and it dated approximately 2140BCE. In the southeastern United States, there were the potteries in the middle of the Savannah River at two points, that is, Georgia and South Carolina (National Park Services, 2015). Basically, this place is the one identified as the Stalling Island, and its ceramics were dated over 4500BP. Subsequently, pottery associated with the Norwood and the Orange culture in Northern Florida was dated 4300BP. In North America, the pottery had reached the southern part of Florida by 400BO (Stanislawski, 1977). Those found at the Nebo Hills dated 3700BP and at Poverty Point which is located in Louisiana they were dated to 3400BP.

Tribal Pottery Designs 

Acoma 

The Acoma, like other tribes, pounded the dry clay to turn it into a fine powder and then removed impurities using their hands (Palms Trading Company Inc, 2017). After this, they would run the powder through a screen while mixing temper and water respectively in order to create a plastic paste. The pottery adopted a conventional design of fine lines which created geometric patterns. The pottery patterns were largely “dominated by the olla-shaped vessels’ which had a narrow base which widens gradually (Palms Trading Company Inc, 2017). The broadest part of these vessels was just before their taper where their mouth begins. The Acoma left some of their vessels unpainted, and they bore a light cream color which was almost white. However, they used a red and orange, commonly referred to as the terra cotta, which was outlined in black.

The Acoma was famous for using fine lines designs, whereby, the fine lines were used to symbolize falling rain when drawn closer to each other. The variations of the lines direction showed different geometric patterns. In addition to this, they used parrots in their pottery designs as they were of great significance to them. Their importance was traced back from a legend that they had helped the Acoma women to spot clean and refreshing water holes.

Hopi Pueblo 

When it came to Hopi tribe, their pottery was renowned for being mostly buff-colored, and it was decorated using terrace coat and some black paints. Notably, this earth-tone dominant color scheme in the pottery of this tribe symbolized their connectedness towards their lands. Furthermore, their pottery embodied several characteristics patterns with their favorite being eagle, migration and butterfly maidens. A point to note is that all these characteristics patterns reinforced how vital land was to the people of Hopi traditions (Palms Trading Company Inc, 2017).

Mainly, migration patterns were developed by a repetition if curving feathers which appeared to move in a similar direction (Palms Trading Company Inc, 2017). This closely resembled the fine lines which were used by their neighboring tribe the Acoma. The migration patterns showed how the Hopi people moved in search of food and water in drought seasons. Consequently, the eagle was represented mainly by drawing the eagle’s tail showed their belief in it being a carrier of their prayers. Basically, the eagle was associated with courage and wisdom. The butterfly maiden was created by drawings of headdress which was adorned with feathers and shapes which resembled wings as well as arrows pointing upward. The later was optional, and thus some individuals chose to incorporate it while others did away with it. The butterfly maiden was symbolizing the earth’s fertility.

According to studies, the Hopi pottery was largely accredited to the Nampeyo who were associated with creating of pottery in the 1880s (Palms Trading Company Inc, 2017). During this period, there was a rapid western expansion which rose curiosity among people about the “Wild West.” This acted as a platform to promote this pottery, and it was then passed from one generation to another.

Jemez Pueblo Pottery 

History shows that a majority of the Jemez Pueblo pottery was lost during the 1700s when the tribes destroyed most of their vessels to keep them away from the Spanish intruders (Palms Trading Company Inc, 2017). Nonetheless, this potter had a glossy appearance due o the stone polishing technique which they used. A majority of these vessels had a geometric pattern which was sometimes painted and at other times etched into the whole piece. Mainly, their pottery used tan or red slip which added on to the glossy appearance. More commonly, however, is the kiva design which was included at the mouth of these vessels. It was a three or four step cut, which symbolizes stages in one’s life, that is, birth, life and also death, while the fourth stage represented afterlife.

Laguna Pueblo 

The Laguna pottery was similar to the Acoma Pueblo pottery in several ways with a minor differentiation (Palms Trading Company Inc, 2017). Like in Acoma Pueblo, the Laguna also left some of their vessels unpainted; however, it was matte white which slightly differed with that of Acoma. Moreover, they used fine lines in decorating their pottery but used black paints while at other times they used brown paints in painting them. This tribe used larger patterns which created a huge contrast when compared with the Acoma. Additionally, they created flora designs to make their vessels more attractive.

Navajo Pottery 

This tribe is mostly known for the horse hair pottery design which it adopted from the Acoma Pueblo (Palms Trading Company Inc, 2017). They were known for assimilating other cultures. Generally, the Navajo would use the strands of horse hair and place taken from the tail or mane and place it onto a red-hot piece. With these, the artist would create dark veins which served and the sole decoration some time, and at other times they were used as backdrops for another painted of etched design. At other times, the horse hairs would be substituted with feathers to serve a similar purpose.

Furthermore, the Navajo used pine pitches in the finishing process in order to give the finished piece a brown or dark red hue as well as a glossy sheen which resembled mahogany. Notably, this was the only tribe which used this design in pottery thus setting their vessels to be unique. Their pottery employed a varied palette which included vivid green and blue which was conspicuous. They were also known for integrating symbols and figures in their pottery. They used the Kokopelli and also the Yei which were considered o be supernatural beings associated with nature (Palms Trading Company Inc, 2017).

San Ildefonso Pueblo Pottery 

The San Ildefonso pottery distinguished them by making black-on-black pottery. Their vessels took on an avanyu pattern or a “horned water serpent with a forked tongue” (Palms Trading Company Inc, 2017). Ideally, the wavy body of this serpent would represent the flowing of water in an array immediately after a storm. The use of a forked serpent tongue represented the lighting which would accompany that deluge of the life-sustaining water.

Santa Clara Pottery 

This tribe tried to borrow the art of black-on-black pottery from the San Ildefonso (Palms Trading Company Inc, 2017). However, they had additional red vessels which the other tribe did not make. They relied heavily on the carving etching and sgraffito in designing instead of painting their vessels. On top of the avanyu and the water snake, they also had a favor hummingbird, dragonflies, and butterflies on their vessels. In addition to this, they used several floral patterns in which they incorporated smaller stone in vessels for coloured decoration.

Zuni Pueblo 

The Zuni tribe used clay in making their pottery which had crushed pottery shards or in other instances some rocks in order to temper it (Palms Trading Company Inc, 2017). As a result, this gave the pottery which was unfinished a white color. Nonetheless, a majority of the vessels was coated with a coloured slip that was usually red or a white coat and then painted with some black as well as red paints. The Zuni pottery was easily distinguished from the rest of the Native American pottery in that their artists created more open pieces, which included pottery baskets and bowls. Several of these potteries had rims which were shaped by the relief of animals or painted animal designs. The most common vessel type associated with the Zuni is the lizard pots; however, they also used other images of common animals. For instance, they used the heartline deer image, dragonfly, tadpole and from, with the two representing rain.

Zia Pueblo 

Notably, the Zia pottery which was unpainted normally took a deep-red coloured when it was fired, however, a white slip was in many cases applied as it created a buff-colored painting surface. Most of their vessels were painted in black, orange and red hues to ensure that they looked attractive (Palms Trading Company Inc, 2017). During some occasions, the Zia tribe would use the sun as a symbol in some of its pottery, but more often they preferred using bird signs and sky bands. The sky bird design is a broad coloured ribbon which takes an arcing shape. The bird sign used were those of the Zia birds which was considered to be a large-eyed bird and had wings upraised and also a tree or two prolonged tail. Some Zia artists also created floral and geometric patterns in their pottery.

Other Cultures: 

Alaka 

They used to make large pots which were globular and fiber-tempered. The ceramics belonging to Alaka first appeared in the Puerto Hormiga, approximately 5000 years ago on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. They were distinct from other culture as they were not sand-tempered. These pots were mainly used for serving, cooking and also preserving of water and food (Cooper, 2002).

Amazonia Pottery 

Notably, the pottery tradition which was discovered at Pedra Pnutada represents the oldest pottery belonging to Native America. They are said to have continued for approximately 2500 years. The pottery at Santarem, Brazil from the Taperinha site dated 5130BC and included bowls and some cooking vessels that resembled guards. In addition to this, there were other ancient Amazon pottering traditions, that is, the Urua-Tucuma and Mina which mainly featured sand and shell-tempered potteries. Occasionally, these potteries would be painted with a red color. Moreover, their designs employed geometric and also linear decorations. They also used scalping, excisions, incisions, and grooving in decorating the ceramics (Cooper, 2002).

Pottery Style and the Time period

The first pottery style was the later Basketmaker II era which was around 50BCE to 450 CE (Cooper, 2002). The Basketmaker III era lasted from 450 CE To 700 CE. This was then followed by the Pueblo I Era which was 700 to 900 years ago. The Pueblo II Era was 900-1100 years ago. The Pueblo III Era was from 1100 to 13000. Lastly, the Pueblo IV Era started from 1300 to 1600.

Conclusion

In summary, we can affirm that the Naïve America Pottery was made and decorated in a different way by the various tribes. According to historical documents, the earliest Native American Pottery first appeared around 4000 BC. Nonetheless, there were other ceramics which were discovered that were believed to have existed more than 1300BC. Each tribe used clay and water and tampering as the clay soil would easily shrink without the tampering. However, some tribes such as Hopi used clay which did not require additional tempers as it already had natural ones. The tempering was crucial as they were used by archeologists to be able to understand the different pottery which was made by different tribes and accurately predict when they were made. As such, this helps one in isolating the pottery by the Acoma, Zuni, Zia, Hopi Jemez, and Laguna pueblos. There are other cultures which also made the pottery such as the Amazon cultures, the Alaka, Puerto Hormiga and Pundache, just to name but a few. The pottery that they made took on different shapes such as bowls, and cooking vessels. They symbolized the way of life of each of the tribe. As noted above, the ceramics were discovered during different points in time and at different places.

References

Cooper, E. (2002). Ten thousand years of pottery . London: British Museum Press

National Park Services. (2015). Pottery of the Ancestral Pueblo - Aztec Ruins National Monument (U.S. National Park Service) Nps.gov Retrieved 28 October 2017, from https://www.nps.gov/azru/learn/education/classrooms/pottery-of-the-ancestral- pueblo.htm 

Palms Trading Company Inc,. (2017). Difference in Tribes' Pottery Styles | Palms Trading Co. . Palmstrading.com . Retrieved 28 October 2017, from https://www.palmstrading.com/different-pottery-styles/

Stanislawski, M. (1977). : Pottery Techniques of Native North America John Kennardh White. American Anthropologist , 79 (4), 1001-1002. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/aa.1977.79.4.02a01090

Weinstein, R. A., & Dumas, A. A,. (2008). The spread of shell-tempered ceramics along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico: Southeastern Archaeology , 202-221.