Portrait of Cookie Tafoya
Biography

The life and work of Cookie Tafoya

At a glance

Tribe / Pueblo
Santa Clara
Known for
  • Pottery
Available now
1 piece

Cookie Tafoya, a well-known contemporary Santa Clara Pueblo potter from the extended Tafoya family lineage—one of the most prominent pottery dynasties in the pueblo. She specializes in traditional black pottery (black-on-black or polished blackware), often with deeply carved designs such as avanyu (horned water serpent), feathers, geometric patterns, or other motifs.

She creates forms like jars, bowls, seed pots, wedding vases, and tall-neck vases/jars. She's the daughter of a potter in the family line (connected to influences like Christina Naranjo or others in the broader Tafoya/Margaret Tafoya extended family), and her son Robert Maurice "Moe" Tafoya also pots.

Collection

Works by Cookie Tafoya

1 available