Q&A with the Zuni Olla Maidens
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2024 Smithsonian Folklife Festival
label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2024 Smithsonian Folklife Festival / Series 3: Audio
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Sound recording
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2024 June 30
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.SFF.2024, Item SFF2024_0630_IVA_Studio_0004
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Listening copy available
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Zuni Olla Maidens: Loretta Beyuka (singer, dancer, percussion, Zuni Pueblo); Kourtney Bobelu (singer, dancer, Zuni Pueblo); Lynisha Dishta (singer, dancer, Zuni Pueblo); Corliss Edaakie-Bobelu (singer, dancer, Zuni Pueblo); Juanita Edaakie (singer, dancer, percussion, Zuni Pueblo); Lashea Harris (singer, dancer, percussion, Zuni Pueblo); Ashleigh Yamutewa (singer, dancer, percussion, Zuni Pueblo) Sit down with members of the Zuni Olla Maidens after their performance and learn more about their dress, their communities, and the elaborately decorated  ollas , or water jars, they feature in their dances. The performances of the Zuni Olla Maidens celebrate the roles of women in Zuni communities as strong role models balancing traditional and contemporary life, with the olla as a central symbol of the life-giving work of their foremothers. The group was founded in the 1920s by ceramicist Daisy Hooee Nampeyo to highlight the revival of Zuni pottery making, traditionally a women's art form. Over the decades, the group has sustained a wide repertoire of dances and songs in Shiwi'ma, or Zuni language, including their own compositions, traditional social dances, and their iconic dance with ceramic ollas balanced on their heads. The current artists of the Zuni Olla Maidens are members of the same extended family that has led the group since the 1940s.