Toni Roller

Santa Clara

Toni Roller was born in Santa Clara on May 29, 1935. She is the granddaughter of Jose Geronimo Tafoya (1863 – 1952) and Sara Fina Tafoya (ca. 1863 – 1949) and the daughter of Margaret Tafoya (1904 – 2001) and Alcario Tafoya (1900 – 1995)

“ I learned to make the traditional had made, black carved Santa Clara Indian pottery from my mother, Margaret Tafoya, the famous Santa Clara Pueblo potter who was a 1984 winner of the National Heritage Fellowship Award for the Arts.” Toni is quite outspoken with her beliefs about what she considers “traditional” [pottery. “Traditional pottery is pottery that is made completely of natural materials from Mother Earth and fired in outdoor fires. Using commercial clays, paints and kiln firing is definitely not taken from our ancestors, so that kind of pottery that is made with commercial materials was referred to my mother, Margaret as “fake.” Santa Clara pottery.”

“I learned to make pottery when I was little and kept with the traditional process, styles and designs through the years. Improvements in quality and finish are what I strive for and those are the only variations from the pottery of my ancestors. I use only natural clays, form my pottery by hand and fire them in an open, outdoor fire just as they were done for centuries. The amount of work I put into my pottery shows the quality is more than utilitarian use but as works of art.”