Dora Gachupin was born at Zia Pueblo in 1939 to parents Candelaria Medina of Zia and Tony Gachupin of Jemez. She married Johnnie "Tse-Pe" Gonzales of San Idelfonso when she was about 20 and contrary to the ancient tradition, moved to his home from Zia (the Pueblo people are generally matrilineal and home is usually where the wife's family resides). She had grown up learning the Zia pottery designs and shapes but at San Ildefonso, Dora was exposed to the highly polished redware and blackware that Rose Gonzales, her mother-in-law, made. "We didn't polish at Zia", Dora has said, "we used slips and plant and mineral paints." It was from Rose that she learned polishing and other San Ildefonso and San Juan styles and techniques. She said about Rose, "I love her work, and I love carving. And I love the water serpent. It depicts water - rain, thanksgiving and prayer for water. It's a San Ildefonso trademark. I like to make my serpent really simple and graceful. You'll notice that Santa Clara serpents look almost oriental, all the curves on the backs and all. Mine are very plain."

Other exceptional potters who have influenced Dora over the years include Popovi Da with his two-tone black and sienna ware and Tony Da with his use of stone inlay. Dora's work often includes turquoise or coral inlays on pots that also include combinations of black and sienna with micaceous slips. Her innovative style has sometimes been called "contemporary" and she often works with both polished clay and dull or micaceous clays in the same piece. However, she says she doesn't like that "contemporary" term and considers herself and her work to be traditional.

She earned many awards including Master Potter at Santa Fe Indian Market. Dora believes in quality not quantity and sees her art to be a gift from God. "It gives me pleasure to create beauty from the earth," she said.

Some Exhibits that featured Dora's work

• Choices and Change: American Indian Artists in the Southwest. Heard Museum North Scottsdale. Opened June 30, 2007
• Recent Acquisitions from the Herman and Claire Bloom Collection. Heard Museum. Phoenix, AZ January 11, 1997 - July 31, 1997
• Fifth Annual Hollywood Premiere. Four Seasons Hotel, Los Angeles, CA. Gallery 10. Scottsdale, AZ. November 23, 1991 - November 24, 1991
• Magic in Clay. Morrill Hall, University of Nebraska State Museum. Lincoln, NE. May 5, 1991 - August 30, 1991
• 1976 Heard Museum Guild Indian Arts and Crafts Exhibit. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. November 26 - December 5, 1976

Some Awards Dora Earned

• 2009 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market: Judge's Choice Award
• 2007 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Class. II - Pottery, Division B - Traditional, native clay, hand built, unpainted: First Place
• 2007 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Judge's Choice Award
• 1976 Heard Museum Guild Indian Arts and Crafts Exhibit, Classification X - Pottery, Division C - Figurines, bells, jewelry, miniatures, etc.: Second Place. Awarded for artwork: Miniature vase
• 1976 Heard Museum Guild Indian Arts and Crafts Exhibit, Classification X - Pottery, Division C - Figurines, bells, jewelry, miniatures, etc.: Honorable Mention. Awarded for artwork: Turtle with etched serpent

Most people think that miniature pottery is something new in the world of Native American pottery. In reality, archaeologists have found miniature pottery in the remains of ancient ruins in Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, across eastern Arizona, southern New Mexico and south to the Paquimé and Casas Grandes region in northern Mexico. Archaeologists working in the eastern US have found miniature pottery spread across Early Woodland Culture sites, too, dated up to 1700 years ago.

We have no idea as to why the ancients created miniature pottery but there's lots of speculation. Perhaps it was made as toys for children. Perhaps it was made by children learning to make pottery, and as their expertise grew, the size of their pieces grew, too. Perhaps it was made and placed in a firing pit as a good luck charm, hoping that other pots being fired in the pit would survive the firing process and not crack or break. Perhaps it was made for some ceremonial purpose we have no possibility of knowing. We do know that in North America, almost every pottery-making group of ancients made miniature pottery. They decorated it, too, just like the full size pottery the women of the time were making.

As the rebirth of traditionally made Native American pottery has unfolded over the last century, research into the ancient forms, styles and designs has also brought the miniature back into focus. There are more than a few potters these days making tiny gems again, similar to and, at the same time, more refined than the products of the potters of prehistory. And while some are still being made by children learning as they grow up, many more are being made by established adult potters. Some have made their entire careers around the making of miniatures while others sometimes make a few miniatures to complement the full range of forms and styles of full size pieces they make.