Anthony Durand

Who was Anthony Durand?

Anthony Durand was a Native American potter from Picuris Pueblo, New Mexico, United States. He was born in Cortez, Colorado and raised by his grandparents at Picuris Pueblo. He attended primary and secondary school in Peñasco, New Mexico and college at New Mexico Highlands University. When he returned to Picuris in 1976, he became intent on preventing the Picuris micaceous tradition of pottery from dying out. He had an excellent teacher in his grandmother Cora Durand. In 1976, Cora and Francis Martinez were the only ones making traditional Picuris-style pottery. With inspiration from his grandmother, Anthony was producing pottery on a full-time basis within a year.

The primary and most important source for gathering micaceous clay by Picuris potters was located four and a half miles east of their village. In the Tiwa language of the Picuris people it is known as “Mowlownan-a” or “pot dirt place.” This site not only provided the best micaceous clay source but also had deep religious and traditional cultural significance for the Picuris people who had been gathering clay here for over 400 years. During the 1960s when mining operations commenced in the area this important clay source was fenced in with the rest of the land mines making it extremely difficult for potters to access the site. By the mid-1990s the Picuris people had lost all access to the site of “Mowlownan-a” which is now buried under tons of waste rock from mining activities.