Pottery In Native American Culture

Pottery has always been a part of Native American Culture. Dating back to 25,000 B.C, pottery was more than just a work of art. It was used for things such as cooking, storage, and even musical instruments and ceremonial items. The use of pottery is also considered ceremonial and religious. Since sometime ago, Native American’s have used pottery to represent birds, plants, spirits and even Gods. Native American women have perfected their pottery skills over time. Women became a bigger part of making pottery, because most of the men during this time were the hunters, and the women were gatherers. Native American women often would make different shapes and sizes of pottery depending on what they were trying to gather. A lot of the early pottery was undecorated, and the only “decorated” part was coil or the texture of the pottery, such as the jar shown below.

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It wasn’t until later that designs and symbols appeared on pottery. “Anglos have long struggled to find meaning in these designs, but Indians are reluctant to verbalize their meanings” (Peterson 1997). Pottery also became popular to the Native Americans among burials and ceremonial rituals. “The use of pottery can be recognized in a religious and social context long before Columbus' arrival in America in 1492 and the Spanish conquest in 1540” (Peterson 1997). Pottery was created almost accidentally, by using the hard mud to line the outside of baskets. Once the baskets lined in the mud were put over a fire, the basket burned leaving the hard outer layer of clay. Interestingly enough, Native Americans never used a pottery wheel. All it was used for was for transporting tools that the Natives used, but never for the pottery itself. In due time, different Native Amer...

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...y, which is known as Horsehair pottery, was almost created by accident. The wind accidentally blew a potters hair onto the pot while they were removing from the kiln, and it carbonized to the pot creating an interesting texture. The same potter then recreated the look with hair from a horse.

White slipped polychrome Sgraffito/Etched Horsehair

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Pottery is something that will always be treasured by Native Americans. I will always find it fascinating the culture and history behind such a beautiful work of art. Next time you look at an authentic work of art, remember that it was created with meaning and inspiration. The meaning of pottery will never be taken for granted, and it will always be recognized as a symbol of the culture that stands for Native Americans of the past, present and future.