Laate, Jennie (1933 - 1994)

Respected for her pottery and teaching, Jennie Laate was an artist originally from Acoma, New Mexico. She later moved to Zuni to live with her husband and remained there for many years. She brought her Acoma pottery skills to the Zuni region and began to encourage the revival of Zuni pottery making. Zuni pottery had traditionally been a woman’s craft, practiced for more than a thousand years, but Laate was committed to teaching and sharing her knowledge to all. She began teaching pottery to art students in 1977 at Zuni High School in New Mexico and continued to teach until her health prevented her from continuing. Jennie Laate inspired many students, some of which went on to be well known Zuni potters and educators such as Noreen Simplicio. In an effort to continue Laate’s work, in 1984 a tribal arts and crafts enterprise was created to help market Zuni pottery. By the 1990s Zuni pottery had made a complete revival and Jennie’s contribution to Zuni art continues to inspire new generations of potters.