(1931- Unknown)
Pueblo: Acoma Pueblo
Emmalita Chino was inspired by her mother-in-law, Marie Z. Chino, to learn the art of pottery making. Marie taught Emmalita all the fundamentals of traditional pottery making, also sharing special techniques which Emmalita then applied to her own pottery, improving by trial and error.
Emmalita specializes in handmade traditional pottery. She gathers natural pigments from within the Acoma Pueblo, soaks the clay, grinds, cleans the clay for imperfections, mixes, hand coils, shapes, sands, polishes, paints, and fires her pottery, the traditional way, outdoors. She hand paints, without stencils or other means, intricate fine line patterns, some of which are borrowed from her mother-in-law. She also uses all natural paints derived from plants and minerals also found within her pueblo. Continuing the family tradition of pottery making is very important to her.