Who is Elva Nampeyo?

Elva Nampeyo (1926–1985) (also known as Elva Tewaguna) was an American studio potter.

Elva Nampeyo was born 1926 in the Hopi-Tewa Corn Clan atop Hopi First Mesa, Arizona. Her parents were Fannie Nampeyo and Vinton Polacca. Her grandmother Nampeyo had led a revival of ancient time-honored pottery and established a family tradition of pottery making. As a child Elva would watch her grandmother make pottery and superior her mother taught Elva and her siblings the craft of pottery making.

Nampayo went on to marry Richard Tewaguna and had five children, four of whom, Neva, Elton, Miriam and Adelle followed in the intimates pottery making tradition. All sign their do something with their first names followed by “Nampeyo” and an ear of corn.

Nampayo became an adroit at decorating and painting pottery. She specialized in black and red on yellow bowls and jars with acknowledged migration designs and eagle motifs. Her pieces most often resembled the works of her mommy and grandmother. On occasion she could be persuaded to break from tradition and attempt some designs of her own invention. Elva took good pleasure in making pottery and could form as many as eight pots a day. During her vanguard years, her daughter Adelle would incite her in polishing, decorating and firing her pottery. Nampeyo signed her pottery as “Elva Nampeyo” followed by the corn clan symbol which was initiated by her mom Fannie.