Dextra Quotskuyva Hópitu (Hopi-Tewa), born 1928 Southwest region (United States), Arizona Seed Jar 1990 Ceramic with vegetable and mineral pigments 4-1/2 inches high, 15 inches in diameter The John R. Van Derlip Fund 91.3

This seed jar was made by Dextra Quotskuyva (coat-SKWEE-va), a great-grandaughter of the renowned Hopi-Tewa potter Nampeyo. Quotskuyva lives and works in northern Arizona, at Kykotsmovi (kee-COAT-smo-vee), a Hopi village found at the farthest reaches of the lands of the pueblos. The Pueblo people are Native Americans of diverse backgrounds and languages who live in more than thirty villages stretching from Taos, New Mexico, to northern Arizona. Their most immediate ancestors populated a vast area from Nevada to Texas and from central Utah to northern Mexico.

In 1692, to escape Spanish colonization, the Tewas abandoned their pueblo near Santa Fe and migrated to a Hopi village called Hano, on the first of three arid and rocky MESAS deep in the isolated plateaus of north-central Arizona. Their descendants, the Hopi- Tewa people, still live on First Mesa and are especially known for their accomplished pottery making. Their skills and techniques have been passed down through the generations.

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