A member of the Roadrunner clan, Rachel Concho was born to parents George and Santana Cerno in 1936 at Acoma Pueblo. She is the sister of Joseph Cerno Sr. and the mother-i-law of Carolyn Concho, both acclaimed potters. Rachel started making pottery on her own around 1958. She followed her family's tradition by obtaining her clay and pigments from sacred areas around Acoma Pueblo. She hand-coiled her pots, shaping the form with gourds and polishing with a stone passed down to her from her grandmother. She applied intricate geometric and animal motifs based on prehistoric Mimbres designs with a homemade yucca brush.

Rachel told us she had no regrets about honoring her ancestors' path. "When I first started, everybody said I was crazy," she recalled. "I said I'd be more crazy if I didn't do what I really wanted to do." She felt grateful to be able to do something that connected her with others, particularly loved ones. "I've had a lot of heartache, a lot of deaths in my family," she said. "When I do my pottery, I don't think about it. To me, pottery-making is like therapy. Making pottery comes from my heart."

Rachel showed her work at Santa Fe Indian Market and at the Heard and the Pueblo Grande Museums in Phoenix. Her favorite pieces to make were seedpots and her favorite designs were based on ancient Mimbres designs and contemporary fine line and snowflake designs. Rachel earned numerous awards at the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Arts & Crafts Shows (including earning Best of Show in 1992) as well as several ribbons from the Santa Fe Indian Market, beginning in 2000.

Rachel said she still got her inspiration from the potter who first taught her: her mother. She wanted the world to know how happy she was to know people enjoyed her art. She was especially happy to learn that the some of her work is on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. She signed her pots: "Rachel Concho, Acoma, N.M." Rachel isn't making pottery any more.