THE ZUNI SHOW

Milford Nahohai digs the clay for his pots at Pia Mesa and gathers the plants he uses for pigments from around Zuni, at the western edge of New Mexico, south of Gallup. Rocky Mountain beeweed, wild mustard seed, yucca — Nahohai boils them until the liquid is sticky, then transfers the paint to a pie pan or a corncob and lets it dry. “Then I’m ready to use it. I just mix it with a little water,” he said. Nahohai is a Zuni potter whose wares, like those of other members of his family, sell internationally. In Zuni culture, pottery is traditionally made by women. Nahohai learned the craft from his mother, Josephine, who learned it from her mother, Lawatsa, and other family members. Now the Nahohai name and pottery tradition are being carried on by Milford and his nephew Jaycee, the son of Milford’s late brother, Randy. Nahohai did not learn to make pots until he was an adult. He went to high school in Zuni and attended Fort Lewis College in Durango, where he majored in early childhood education. “I was being mainstreamed into regular society, and I sort of liked getting more into that and not thinking of home,” he said. “But once I got home, I started helping my mom out with her pottery. Once I started learning more about pottery, design, and traditions — that’s when I became Zuni again.” The Nahohai family is credited with a revival of Zuni pottery in the 1970s and ’80s, when they researched and started bringing back older styles that had fallen out of use. When his mother was doing her pottery, the main design, Deer in His House, came from the 18th century. The Nahohais made numerous trips to museums in New Mexico; Washington, D.C.; and other locations to view historical Zuni pottery, which featured more abstract geometric designs. “We started doing what we call the Rain Bird design, and we started doing more three-dimensional, with animals sticking out of the pot. We learned about glazing, which appeared in the 1200s but eventually declined. My nephew is doing glazing in the old style.”

Milford and Jaycee Nahohai have a booth at the second annual Zuni Show on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 19 and 20, at which 150 painters, potters, jewelry makers, and carvers sell their work at the Scottish Rite Center. They will be joined by musicians, speakers, and numerous dancers who will perform throughout the grounds and areas surrounding the temple. The theme of this year’s show is Knifewing, a decorative, protective human-bird figure. The Zuni Show is organized by Robin Dunlap and her daughter, Bronwyn Fox, owners of Keshi, the Zuni Connection, on Don Gaspar Avenue. Dunlap taught sixth grade in the Zuni public schools in the early 1980s, and Fox spent a few formative years as a student there. Keshi was originally founded as a cooperative in 1981; Dunlap took over ownership of Keshi in the late 1980s at the request of the co-op board and has run it ever since, with Fox eventually joining her as an owner and chief steward. The mission of Keshi, which extends to the Zuni Show, is to help Zuni artists earn as much as possible for their work without being haggled down by traders who resell the goods to Santa Fe galleries at a steep markup. Though about 80 percent of Zunis make a living as artists, many have never participated in art markets, so the show is being treated as an educational opportunity for anyone who needs guidance or assistance in the process. “You have to get a grossreceipts tax ID number and a special events license; you have to have a bank account so you can take credit cards,” Dunlap said. “And you have to know what your art is worth and not accept less.”

At the 2016 Zuni Show, buyers were picking up two and three fetishes at a time by Kateri Quandelacy Sanchez. “There was a line at the booth. My daughter,