A striking blend of the traditional and contemporary, the Zuni Olla Maidens bring dance, song, and pottery to audiences across the American Southwest and beyond. This summer, their participation in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival was one of many stops on a journey of cultural sharing that has spanned seventy years and generations of family.

The women perform while balancing decorated ceramic jars called olla on their heads, the pieces specifically formed to fit them without any adhesives or fasteners. This pottery dance honors their female ancestors, who used similar vessels to carry water to nurture the land.

Based in New Mexico, the members are family in every sense. Each woman is related to the woman beside her; they all descend from the group’s original members from the 1940s. They’ve grown up in the group, and they perform and celebrate their experience of being Zuni and women together. In the Zuni matrilineal society, women are the backbone.

In the tradition of honoring the women who came before them, one of the group’s leaders thanked her mother for their success and longevity.

“She taught us everything,” Juanita Edaakie said. “She taught us how to dress, how to sing, how to conduct ourselves as ladies. She always told us to represent our community well.”

And to their audience, the women say elahkwa—“thank you” in Shiwiʼma, the Zuni language.

Ella Ryan is a writing intern at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and a senior at William & Mary, studying history and creative writing.