Carla Claw Nampeyo is a daughter of noted potter Thomas Polacca and a granddaughter of Fannie Nampeyo. She is also a great-granddaughter of Nampeyo of Hano. Her brother is Gary Polacca and she is married to Raul Claw (Navajo).  She is known for her incised and carved pottery and the use of slips that give the appearance of wood to the surface of her pottery. This tall wedding vase is carved with a Crow Mother Katsina on one side.  She is surrounded by feather and geometric designs.  It is one of the larger pieces of her work we have had from her.  It is signed on the bottom, “Carla Nampeyo”.

It is said of the Crow Mother Katsina:

The Crow Mother, or Angwusnasomtaka is a figure of great dignity. She appears during the Powamu (Bean Dance) ceremony in February to supervise the initiation of young boys into the Katsina rituals. At this time, children are told that the Katsinam are not actual spirits, but the men of their village, assuming a spiritual identity. The ceremony is performed inside the village’s kiva, a semi-subterranean circular pit house with an entrance hole in the roof.