The daughter of Betty and Lee Tafoya, Linda Tafoya was born into Santa Clara Pueblo in 1962. As a granddaughter of Margaret Tafoya she grew up surrounded by some of the finest traditional potters on Earth and learned the Santa Clara way early in life, mostly from her parents and her aunt, Mary Esther Archuleta.

Linda made her first pieces when she was twelve years old. Her father taught her how to form vessels and carve them while her mother taught her sanding and polishing. Her father also taught her his method for firing a perfect black pot and maintaining its high shine. Pieces they worked on together were signed "Lee and Linda." Then she married Dennis Oyenque of San Juan Pueblo and moved there.

At San Juan she continued to make pottery the Santa Clara way but she also learned San Juan methods and imagery and was one of the first Santa Clara potters to use micaceous clay on her pieces.

Linda lived at San Juan through the 1980s, signing her pottery: Linda Tafoya-Oyenque, Santa Clara/San Juan. Then she divorced and returned to Santa Clara. At Santa Clara she remarried and became Linda Tafoya-Sanchez. She still creates traditional Santa Clara red and black pottery with some San Juan imagery. Deep carving, light carving, sgraffito, micaceous slips, red and black ware, Linda does it all, and with an exceptional polish, too. She also taught her sons, Antonio and Jeremy, the traditional way to make pottery.

Over the years Linda participated in a number of exhibits, fairs and shows, earning awards regularly from the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market, Santa Fe Indian Market, Eight Northern Pueblos Arts and Crafts Show and the Gallup Intertribal Ceremonials.

In 2006, Linda was featured on the cover of New Mexico Magazine and was a featured artist in the 2011 Santa Fe Indian Market Magazine.

After all she has accomplished in her career, Linda says one accolade in particular still warms her heart. Early in her career Margaret Tafoya, her grandmother, asked to see some of her pots. She says Margaret looked over her selection and then proclaimed: "You do good pots!" It doesn't get any better than that.

Some of Linda's Awards:

• 1984 - Outstanding Traditional Miniatures, Deer Dancer Annual Pottery Show, Denver, CO
• 1993 - First Place for a miniature melon jar, First Place for miniature miscellaneous, and Third Place for carved miscellaneous, all at Santa Fe Indian Market
• 1994 - First Place for black miniature jar, Second Place for miniature seed pot, and Third Place for a carved jar, all at Santa Fe Indian Market
• 1995 - Best of Division, Heard Museum Guild Indian Art Fair & Market, Scottsdale, AZ
  - Geraldine Harris Memorial Award from the Heard
• 1996 - Ribbons for traditional pottery over 6 inches and traditional miniature under 3 inches, both from Santa Fe Indian Market
• 1997 - Special Award in Traditional Pottery, Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Arts and Crafts Show, San Juan Pueblo
  - Award from Santa Fe Indian Market in the Traditional Bowls and Vases category
• 1998 - Best of Division, piece was presented to the Prince of Spain
  - First Place for undecorated black melon bowl and jar, First Place for carved or incised bowl, both from Santa Fe Indian Market
  - Best in Category at the Gallup Intertribal Ceremonials
• 1999 - First Place for a miniature, First Place for a traditional pot, both from the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Arts and Crafts Show
• 2023 - Best of Division, Pottery Division C: Traditional burnished black or red ware, incised, painted or carved, Santa Fe Indian Market
• 2023 - First Place, Pottery Division C, Category 702 - Carved or incised, black or red, over 8 inches tall, Santa Fe Indian Market