Rose Williams

Rose Williams is one of the great matriarchs in Dine’ pottery. Her daughters Alice Cling, Sue Ann Williams, and Susie Williams Crank, and her daughter-in-law, Lorraine Williams, are all potters. Rose was from the Shonto/Cow Springs area of the Navajo Reservation. Rose was an adult when she learned to make pottery and she continued for over 30 years, teaching the next generations traditional Navajo/Dine’ pottery making. Among those she taught include: Faye Tso, Silas Claw, Louise Goodman, and Lorena Bartlett. The Navajo Way is one of the close-knit extended families sharing common Clan relationships based on matrilineal descent. Some clans have become known for particular skills. The Lók’aa’dine’é Clan (Reed People) in the Shonto/Cow Springs area has long been recognized for its pottery making, and many of the present-day potters or their spouses – Silas Claw, Faye Tso, Rose Williams, and Alice Cling—are members of this clan. Rose was known for her very large vessels.