Socorro black-on-white storage jar
About this video
An Acoma speaker, Vallo, explains that this ancestral Pueblo storage jar was made during a time of drought, to store foods like corn, beans and dried meat. Its black-on-white design shows clouds and rain as a prayer for rain, and making these forms today pays tribute to the ancestors.
You'll be able to
- explain why ancestral Pueblo people made large storage jars.
- interpret the cloud and rain symbols on the jar.
- explain how recreating these designs today connects people to their ancestors.
Key words
- ancestral Pueblo
- The ancient peoples of the American Southwest whose descendants live in Pueblos in New Mexico and Arizona today.
- drought
- A long period with little or no rain.
- black-on-white
- A pottery style with black painted designs on a white background.
- kúdíyamunishi
- The Acoma word for these pots, referring to the ancient or original people.
Transcript
VALLO: This ancestral Pueblo storage jar was made at a time when there was a period of drought and where it was important for the ancestral Pueblo people to begin storing as much foodstuff as they could in anticipation of a drought. Perhaps some corn, beans, dried meats, breads, different berries.
They are still used today in some of the Pueblos in New Mexico and in Arizona. Rain and clouds are key to the survival of our people. The potter probably had a prayer for rain. And so clouds would be the black, and then the lines represent rain. What looks like a hand symbol in the center there might be the maker’s signature.
In Acoma culture we refer to these pots as kúdíyamunishi. Kúdíyamunishi is a reference to the ancient people, or the original people. So when we utilize and recreate these forms and these designs today, we are paying tribute to our ancestors.
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