Early life and pottery Rose Naranjo was born in 1917 in
Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico. Her Tewa name,
Aakonpovi translates to "Meadow flower". She was raised by her grandmother, Lupita, "Corn Tassel" a medicine woman and midwife after her parents died in the
Spanish flu pandemic. Naranjo could trace her matrilineal heritage to
Nampeyo, one of the first named Native American artists. Naranjo began learning traditional
Puebloan pottery as a teenager. She made her first pot aged 13 at her grandmother's home. Naranjo, as with other Tewa potters considered clay was a gift of Mother Earth, appreciating the material as having its own agency and being. She described clay as having a strength and personality, "clay is very selfish. It will form itself to what the clay wants to be." Working with the material, Naranjo claimed that a potter with "good intentions" could create designs that were a shared vision between its own, and the potter's spirit. Creating pottery became a conversation between the potter and her material. At age 18, she married her husband, Michael Edward Naranjo, a
Southern Baptist minister. Together, they moved to
Taos to become missionaries, working in Taos and Santa Clara Pueblo. Together, they conducted missionary work throughout the Southwest. Rose continued to craft traditional pots to support her family. Rose and Michael would raise ten children together. She has been described as heading "one of the most distinguished and accomplished families of artists in North American art history". Several of their children became well known artists as well as Pueblo scholars. Their children include: • Louise Cata Romero, Puebloan embroiderer of ceremonial montas, teacher and educator, developed a weaving dictionary. • Edna
K”apovi Romero, micaceous clay potter and artist and Pueblo educator •
Jody Folwell, contemporary political and social activist potter and artist •
Rina Swentzell, scholar of
Pueblo architecture. • Dolly Naranjo Neikrug, Puebloan ceramicist and embroiderer •
Nora Naranjo Morse, contemporary artist and poet • Cleo Naranjo Naranjo became known as "Gia", or "Mother" within the Santa Clara Puebloan community. In 1994, she and her family were honored with the National Buddy Award, recognizing them for raising women who made a difference in education.
Later life and legacy After Michael Naranjo's death in 1994, Rose returned to Santa Clara Pueblo. She continued to produce art well into her eighties. and
Rose B. Simpson. == Exhibitions and holdings ==