Ramona Peters - Nosapocket
Traditional Wampanoag Ceramics
"Conversation" Ramona Peters
It has been said that artists are the true visual historians of the worlds cultures. Although I was unconscious about this role when I began my artistic experience, today I gladly offer this gift to the Tribal Circle. As children we are encouraged to discover and master the special gifts planted inside us by the creator and through our ancestors. These gifts are intentional and important to offer, as adults, in the Tribal Circle. Each clan has a place of expertise, each individual has a unique and specialized gift appropriate for the generational need of the people. I come from the Bear Clan, known as a medicine clan to most tribes. In the Mashpee Tribe it has been one of mystery and spiritual pursuits. When the elders speak about members of my clan, they tell strange stories of direct communication with living spirits of plants, animals, elements, water beings, winged-ones and, of course, human spirits. Information gathered from these spirits revealed correct uses of herbs, mineral substances, elemental combinations, and a wealth of medicine ways for the people to maintain health.
Through marriage, my mother's mother brought us the Deer Clan. The Deer Clan holds the tribal records, combining historical essence with clairvoyance to see our progression on the great path. My Great-grandmother of the Deer Clan taught me how to see the sacred spiral of generations and to be aware of our evolutional contributions.
My mother married a member of the Turtle Clan. My father's clan is a highly respected social/political clan. Turtle Clan members are nurtured in the arts of diplomacy and have been sachems who traveled to Europe during English Colonization. Many stories of these ambassador's expeditions are written and held within the wampum belts. Today my father travels all over world speaking with other nations cultivating the worlds peace tree.
During my childhood it was traditional to be sent to live for a time with the elders of each clan we are related to. These elders eagerly looked within us to see if we carried their seeds and, if so, began to water us with teachings. As an artist it is a complete thanksgiving to inherit the ancient teachings that have evolved through thousands of years and to be able to offer sacred understandings through my work.
Through marriage, my mother's mother brought us the Deer Clan. The Deer Clan holds the tribal records, combining historical essence with clairvoyance to see our progression on the great path. My Great-grandmother of the Deer Clan taught me how to see the sacred spiral of generations and to be aware of our evolutional contributions.
My mother married a member of the Turtle Clan. My father's clan is a highly respected social/political clan. Turtle Clan members are nurtured in the arts of diplomacy and have been sachems who traveled to Europe during English Colonization. Many stories of these ambassador's expeditions are written and held within the wampum belts. Today my father travels all over world speaking with other nations cultivating the worlds peace tree.
During my childhood it was traditional to be sent to live for a time with the elders of each clan we are related to. These elders eagerly looked within us to see if we carried their seeds and, if so, began to water us with teachings. As an artist it is a complete thanksgiving to inherit the ancient teachings that have evolved through thousands of years and to be able to offer sacred understandings through my work.
Ramona Peters - Nosapocket
When we understood ourselves as vessels who held love to share, Pottery was elaborate, sacred and magical. Reviving this art form, that left my people around 1700, has revealed far more than a clay modeling technique. The shape teaches first about combined male/female energies used as the foundation of our cooking pots. Balancing the male/female shapes physically and energetically gives birth to the spirit essence of each pot . The body of each pot is female, round and full. It is the place of nuturance where animal, vegetable, mineral plus the elements of earth, fire, water and air combine to strengthen human life forces. The collar or top of the pots are male which often have four points representing the four directions where we seek food and knowledge. The designs on the collars are usually incised lines paralleling each other to create a picture, like thought waves paralleling to achieve awareness. The bottom of the pot is pointed yet not sharp, allowing it to sit in the coals without smothering them. The pot builders were keenly aware of chemical combinations best suited for their wares. By crushing specific rocks, shells and adding prepared solutions, they created clay bodies which attracted favorable magnetic energies from the atmosphere. These magical vessels enhanced food as medicine and increased our potential to become vessels of love and wisdom.
Ceramic artist Ramona Peters-Nosapocket
Education 1972 Bacone Indian Junior College, Muskogee, OK
1973 Bachelor of Arts (Education) University of Arizona. Tucson, AZ
2006 Masters of Science (Human and Community Development), California School of Professional Psychology, Fresno California
Ms. Peters (Mashpee Wampanoag) is a talented Native American artist, cultural and spiritual advisor, storyteller, and educator. She has been an instructor and or artist-in-residence at the Harvard Ceramics Studio, Worcester Art Museum, the Fuller Arts and Crafts Museum, Phillips Academy, Aquinnah Cultural Center, Cortland Jessup Gallery, Swansborough Gallery, and the Oyster House Gallery.
Ramona is one of the 2010 winners of the First Peoples Fund, Community Spirit Award www.firstpeoplesfund.org
Selected Solo Exhibitions
1997 "Wampanoag Clay Bodies: The Work of Ramona Peters" The Institute for American Indian Studies, Washington, CT
1994 "Ramona Peters: Wampanoag Forms in Clay" Museum of Fine Arts, Dennis, MA
Selected Group Exhibitions 2009 “25th Anniversary Show” Cahoon Museum, Cotuit, MA
2009 “Call and Response” Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts, Concord, MA
2008 “Message on the Wind” Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts, Concord, MA
2007 “Aquinnah Cultural Center, Native Artisan Show” Aquinnah, MA
2004 “Annual Spring Show and Sale” Harvard University Ceramics Studio, Cambridge, MA
2000 “Hands of the Ancestors” South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, MA
1997 “American and Japanese Women Artists Exchange Project,” Gallery Brocken, Koganei, Japan
1996 "Bare Earth Exhibition," Swansborough Gallery, Wellfleet, MA
1995 "Life•Color•Form” Cortland Jessup Fine Art, Inc., Provincetown, MA (residency)
1994 "Native American Art Focusing on the History and Culture of the Wampanoag" Gallery 333, Falmouth, MA
1993 "A Wampanoag Celebration," Institute for American Indian Studies, Washington, CT
1993 "Dream Catchers: Contemporary Native American Art" The Brush Art Gallery, Lowell, MA
Museum Exhibitions 2009 “Keepers of Tradition” National Heritage Museum, Lexington, MA
2006 “From the Earth, Native Art in Stone and Clay” Mashantucket Pequot Museum, Mashantucket, CT
2005 “Northeastern Native American Fine Arts Show” Mashantucket Pequot Museum, Mashantucket, CT
2004 “In Nature’s Company”, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
1994 "The Tradition Continues: Native American Art from New England Collections" Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA
Public and Private Collections
Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, Mashantucket, CT
Robert S. Peabody Museum, Andover, MA
Selected Bibliography
Catalog, Art and Folk Heritage in Massachusetts “Keepers of Tradition” by Maggie Holtberg, May 2008, pp.111
Catalog, “From the Earth, Native Art in Stone and Clay” Mashantucket Gallery collections, Mashantucket, CT Oct. 29, 2006 pp. 13, 22, and 24
Article, Calendar of Events, Massachusetts Archeology Month October 2005, “What do you see when you look at a pot?” 2005 p.26
Review, PEM Connections, “Mashpee and Aquinnah Artists Forge a New Bond” November December 2004
Catalog, “Hands of the Ancestors, AN Assembly of Algonquin Artists,” South Shore Art Center Sept. 24, 2000
Review, Art Media, “From Ancestral Hands” by Soul Brown, November 15-December 15th, 2000
Feature Article, The Patriot Ledger, “Tribal” by Constance Gorfinkle, September 23-24th, 2000
Review, Navigator Arts & Entertainment Magazine, “Ramona Peters, a featured artist” by Max Wheeler, Artist Reviews & Topics, " Issue 4, Vol. 6, 1997
Review, Art New England, “The Tradition Continues: Native American Art from New England Collections," at the Smith College Museum of Art. August-September 1994
Feature Article, " In Provincetown, "Wampanoag Pottery, July 20, 1992.
Review, Village Journal, “Native American Art Exhibit Draws Varied Entries,” August 23, 1990, pp. 13 & 18
1973 Bachelor of Arts (Education) University of Arizona. Tucson, AZ
2006 Masters of Science (Human and Community Development), California School of Professional Psychology, Fresno California
Ms. Peters (Mashpee Wampanoag) is a talented Native American artist, cultural and spiritual advisor, storyteller, and educator. She has been an instructor and or artist-in-residence at the Harvard Ceramics Studio, Worcester Art Museum, the Fuller Arts and Crafts Museum, Phillips Academy, Aquinnah Cultural Center, Cortland Jessup Gallery, Swansborough Gallery, and the Oyster House Gallery.
Ramona is one of the 2010 winners of the First Peoples Fund, Community Spirit Award www.firstpeoplesfund.org
Selected Solo Exhibitions
1997 "Wampanoag Clay Bodies: The Work of Ramona Peters" The Institute for American Indian Studies, Washington, CT
1994 "Ramona Peters: Wampanoag Forms in Clay" Museum of Fine Arts, Dennis, MA
Selected Group Exhibitions 2009 “25th Anniversary Show” Cahoon Museum, Cotuit, MA
2009 “Call and Response” Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts, Concord, MA
2008 “Message on the Wind” Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts, Concord, MA
2007 “Aquinnah Cultural Center, Native Artisan Show” Aquinnah, MA
2004 “Annual Spring Show and Sale” Harvard University Ceramics Studio, Cambridge, MA
2000 “Hands of the Ancestors” South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, MA
1997 “American and Japanese Women Artists Exchange Project,” Gallery Brocken, Koganei, Japan
1996 "Bare Earth Exhibition," Swansborough Gallery, Wellfleet, MA
1995 "Life•Color•Form” Cortland Jessup Fine Art, Inc., Provincetown, MA (residency)
1994 "Native American Art Focusing on the History and Culture of the Wampanoag" Gallery 333, Falmouth, MA
1993 "A Wampanoag Celebration," Institute for American Indian Studies, Washington, CT
1993 "Dream Catchers: Contemporary Native American Art" The Brush Art Gallery, Lowell, MA
Museum Exhibitions 2009 “Keepers of Tradition” National Heritage Museum, Lexington, MA
2006 “From the Earth, Native Art in Stone and Clay” Mashantucket Pequot Museum, Mashantucket, CT
2005 “Northeastern Native American Fine Arts Show” Mashantucket Pequot Museum, Mashantucket, CT
2004 “In Nature’s Company”, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
1994 "The Tradition Continues: Native American Art from New England Collections" Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA
Public and Private Collections
Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, Mashantucket, CT
Robert S. Peabody Museum, Andover, MA
Selected Bibliography
Catalog, Art and Folk Heritage in Massachusetts “Keepers of Tradition” by Maggie Holtberg, May 2008, pp.111
Catalog, “From the Earth, Native Art in Stone and Clay” Mashantucket Gallery collections, Mashantucket, CT Oct. 29, 2006 pp. 13, 22, and 24
Article, Calendar of Events, Massachusetts Archeology Month October 2005, “What do you see when you look at a pot?” 2005 p.26
Review, PEM Connections, “Mashpee and Aquinnah Artists Forge a New Bond” November December 2004
Catalog, “Hands of the Ancestors, AN Assembly of Algonquin Artists,” South Shore Art Center Sept. 24, 2000
Review, Art Media, “From Ancestral Hands” by Soul Brown, November 15-December 15th, 2000
Feature Article, The Patriot Ledger, “Tribal” by Constance Gorfinkle, September 23-24th, 2000
Review, Navigator Arts & Entertainment Magazine, “Ramona Peters, a featured artist” by Max Wheeler, Artist Reviews & Topics, " Issue 4, Vol. 6, 1997
Review, Art New England, “The Tradition Continues: Native American Art from New England Collections," at the Smith College Museum of Art. August-September 1994
Feature Article, " In Provincetown, "Wampanoag Pottery, July 20, 1992.
Review, Village Journal, “Native American Art Exhibit Draws Varied Entries,” August 23, 1990, pp. 13 & 18
