Dextra Quotskuyva Nampeyo
Few potters have had such an impact on their art as Dextra. She was a great-granddaughter of Nampeyo of Hano, descending through her eldest daughter, Annie Healing. She was one of Hopi’s most creative, innovative, and influential potters for almost forty years. She is also the mother of famed painter Dan Namingha and potter Hisi Quotskuyva. She taught Steve Lucas, Loren Ami, Yvonne Lucas, and Les Namingha to make pottery, resulting in Hopi pottery’s nearly unprecedented influence. Dextra used the bee-weed plant for the black and native clay slips for the red. Dextra’s pottery can be found in numerous museums’ permanent collections and has been the subject of a book and exhibition at the Wheelwright Museum entitled “Painted Perfection.” Dextra Quotskuyva Nampeyo uses traditional Hopi pottery methods in hand coil construction, stone polish, paint, and open fire.
