Signed Jemez Pueblo Native American Polychrome Vase. Flowered lip, urn shaped, with geometric black, white, and reddish-orange lines and shapes throughout. Signed "RN Toya" on underside, likely a relative of the famous Jemez artist Mary Toya.  

Condition: Design lost near top on one side. Rest of it is overall good. 

Size: 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 5 in. 

#4082 . 

The Jemez Pueblo is a census-designated place in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,963 at the 2020 census, and it is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area. The pueblo at its center is known among Pueblo members as Walatowa. It appears that a significant part of the Jemez Pueblo population originates from the surviving remnant of the Pecos Pueblo population who fled to Jemez Pueblo in 1838. As much as 70% of the Jemez people were living on their reservation lands in the early 1970s. From then on an increasing number were switching to wage-earning work rather than agriculture, although the residents continued to raise chile peppers, corn, and wheat, to speak their native language, and to maintain customary practices. Running is the most important Jemez pastime and ceremonial activity, and those who served in World War II became renowned for their prowess, running messages over dangerous terrain or overtaking enemies with incredible speed. Prior to the advent of television at Jemez, tales of running feats had been a major form of entertainment on winter nights. Races continued to hold their ceremonial place as the years passed, their purpose being to assist the movement of the sun and moon or to hasten the growth of crops, for example. At the same time they became a popular secular sport on and off their reservation. The year 1959 saw the first annual Jemez All-Indian Track and Field Meet, won by runners from Jemez seven times in the first ten years. A Jemez runner, Steve Gachupin, won the Pikes Peak Marathon six times, setting a world record in 1968 by reaching the top in just 2 hours, 14 minutes, 56 seconds. Their pottery, similar to the work of the Acoma Pueblo people, is highly sought after as cultural artifacts that record the history of their tribe through iconography and geometric patterns. Although they fall within the Jemez Valley Public Schools district, the Jemez Day School, a federal elementary and primary school operated by the Bureau of Indian Education, includes classes on Pueblo history and language. Nearly every well-known Jemez Pueblo individual has gone through it, including the artist Mary Ellen Toya, sculptor Cliff Fragua, US Representative James Madalena, Pulitzer Prize-winning author N. Scott Momaday, and Senator Benny Shendo.

Design lost near top on one side. Rest of it is overall good.