Adelle Nampeyo

Hopi

Adelle Lalo Nampeyo was born to Elva Tewaguna Nampeyo in 1959. Her grandmother was Fannie Nampeyo, her great-grandmother Nampeyo of Hano. Her siblings were Elton Tewaguna, Miriam Tewaguna Nampeyo and Neva Polacca Choyou Nampeyo. Like her sisters, Adelle learned to make pottery through watching and working with her mother and grandmother as they made pottery while she was growing up.

Adelle learned the traditional, spiritual way to make pottery and she has taught that to her own daughters. She says it was that spiritual aspect that first caught her heart and she keeps coming back for more.

Adelle has always stayed within the design pallete of the Nampeyo family. She says her favorite designs are Sikyátki-Revival designs: clowns, bird elements, butterflies, rainclouds, negative stars, eagletail feathers and connected scrolls.