American Indians

This nativity was purchased from a gift shop in the Navajo Nation when we were on our Nine National Parks tour in 2017.

Nativities depicting American Indians usually include a tee pee rather than a stable. The animals include buffalo, horses, and dogs.

Very small commercial nativity

Found in a yard sale

Ceramic nativity from the Burton's molds

Ceramic flight to Egypt

Commercial porcelain Indian nativity

Horsehair Pottery by Apache artist Maria Zuniga-Plum, New Mexico
As a result of Maria's father being  in the Army, Maria lived in many countries. Her grandmother, an Apache indian,  taught her, as a child, to fire pottery inan outdoor kiln and how to decorate it with horsehair. Maria served in the Army in military intelligence. When she retired she began making horsehair pottery.
Horsehair pottery is unglaze ware fired in a kiln at a lower temperature  which preserves some of the moisture. While the pieces are still very hot strands of horsehair are placed on the pieces. The artist has about 15 seconds before the piece cools too much. Because the heat coming off the 1200 degree piece repels the hair, the artist has to nearly touch the piece when placing the hair..When it is cooled the piece is washed to remove the residue and then waxed or sealed.

This was Carole's first ceramic indian set. She found the greenware at a ceramic shop in Westernport, MD. Note that the same mold was used for the horsehair ceramic set above.