Crucita Melchor

Santo Domingo Pueblo

Crucita Melchor was born around 1932 at Santo Domingo Pueblo. Her mother was Santana Melchor, her maternal grandmother Maria Garcia. Her siblings were Dolorita Melchor and Ray Melchor. Crucita learned to make pottery from her mother and grandmother as she was growing up. She became active in the marketplace in her late teens, making mostly polychrome bowls, jars and ollas.

Crucita earned a couple ribbons for her work in the 1970s, then in 1999 she was the Focus Artist of the Santa Fe Indian Market magazine. In 1977 she was one of the artists who participated in the Lifestyle Festival put on by the Smithsonian Institute on the National Mall in Washington DC.