Andy and Marcia Padilla

Potters and Community Activists in Santa Clara Pueblo

Marcia and Andy Padilla.

Marcia and Andy Padilla live in Santa Clara Pueblo, make traditional art and work with a domestic violence prevention group called Peacekeepers.

Describe your artwork.

Marcia: "I started making pottery in 1970 with help of my mother. My mother and father were potters. As far back as I can remember, my grandmother was making pottery -- she has some pieces in museums. It has been handed down over the generations in the family and the children and the grandchildren just pick it up. So the tradition just keeps going on.

"I do a lot of figurines of women and children and animals and I specialize in nativity scenes. I have my own style just as each artist has their own style."

Andy: "I make traditional rattles that are used for traditional dances like rain dance, harvest dance and green corn dance. I make these rattles in traditional styles that have been around for hundreds of years. I demonstrate how to use them and will even give you the seeds to grow your own gourds. I just started doing this on my own. I thought, 'Why should I buy it if I can plant it and make it myself?'

"Now I teach classes. It's a long drawn-out process of boiling, cleaning and filing down the gourds. Then I have to find a piece of wood for the handle that will fit in it.

"I sell mostly to Indians, but the tourists also like the colorful ones. Musicians like to buy them too. When I go to Indian Market in Santa Fe, I always tell people to shake the rattle so they can hear what it sounds like. Everyone else says 'No, no, no, it'll rain.' But it rains at every year at Indian Market anyways."

Are you involved in community activities?

Marcia: "The Peacekeepers is a domestic violence program. In 1992, when the program was funded, I had just quit my job working with children that were neglected and abused. I was planning on just working on my pottery when I was asked to work with Peacekeepers. I help people who are court-ordered into the program go through the process of looking at their abusive behaviors and showing them that they can change and that they can do a lot for their families and themselves and their community.

"I've seen a lot of positive changes from the people that have come through the program. They have gone back to school and are active in their communities advocating for women who are experiencing domestic violence."

What are some of the challenges facing the community here?

Marcia: "One of the challenges in this area is that there aren't a lot of programs like Peacekeepers available and I think we need more of these kind of services.

"One of the things you hear is that there are a lot of drugs and a lot of alcoholism here. But I think that it's not many who have this problem. On Santa Clara we try to help each other a lot. Our culture plays a large part in our lives -- our dances, our languages and our art. We have a lot of programs here to help people positively conduct our lives. Different kinds of people from all over this area come together to celebrate the feasts and the dances. We have programs here to deal with the problems that people have -- not just Native Americans, but everyone in this valley. But we have limited resources to address all these things and that is a hindrance in trying to assist families and address these social problems."

What aspects of living in this area are most appealing to you?

Marcia: "I just enjoy living here. To me, it's just more peaceful; you're grounded. You're at home and surrounded by the mountains and the land. The only thing I miss is the lawn.

"I would never go back to living in a city. You hear so many bad things on the news every day, and here in Santa Clara you don't see it. I would never move from this area. I feel at peace here. You can be involved in a lot of things in this community, The arts are here and we try to take advantage of that. The other night we went to the opera. If more people become aware of what this area has to offer, they will take advantage of it."

Andy: "After living in California for 15 years, I came back and started making pottery in 1970. I think almost everybody comes back. When we have the feast, people who were born here and live elsewhere put in for leave and come back. When you die you want your body back here."