Joseph Lonewolf was born into Santa Clara Pueblo in January of 1932. Both his parents, Camilio Sunflower Tafoya and Agapita Silva were well established potters. Joseph's mother taught him to work with clay at an early age, then his father taught him to sculpt the clay. From his earliest years he made miniature incised pots and gave them to his friends and family.

Joseph spent a number of years working as a mechanic and precision machinist in Colorado before returning to Santa Clara and dedicating himself to becoming a master potter in 1971. He was encouraged by his sister, Grace Medicine Flower, and worked some with his father at first before producing exquisite, finely incised miniature pots. His pottery was soon referred to as "pottery jewels," owing to their very delicate cameo-like appearance. A book was published in 1974 entitled "The Pottery Jewels of Joseph Lonewolf," one of the first books ever highlighting a single Native American artist.

Joseph has also been credited as the innovator of two-tone pottery (red and black) using a single-fire process. Previous methods of producing two-tone pottery required two firings. Joseph also pioneered the use of different colored slips on his pottery, often using red, yellow, orange, green, sienna, purple, black, brown and buff slips he discovered in the soils of Colorado. His wife Kathy once said that when Joseph was riding in the car (she always drove) that he could not only tell what color the passing dirt could produce but he could do it at 30 miles per hour. He always made his pots using the traditional Santa Clara techniques of hand-coiling and ground-firing.

Joseph's designs were all one of a kind, incorporating elements of nature, ancient Mimbres designs and contemporary Santa Clara styles. After firing, he inspected all his pots carefully before adding his name, his wolf's head hallmark, and a number and date to the bottom of each. Anything that didn't pass that inspection was immediately destroyed. Joseph always had dozens of pieces in various states of completion. After his passing his studio shelves were lined with these pots. Just recently his daughter Rosemary, a skilled potter in her own right, decided that she may take on the responsibility of finishing some of his pieces.

In 1976 Joseph, his father Camilio, his sister Grace and his daughter Rosemary were featured in a show at Tanner's Indian Arts Gallery in Scottsdale, AZ. Also in attendance for that show was Rosemary's husband, painter Paul Speckled Rock, and Joseph's other daughter Susan with her husband, painter Mike Romero. Back in Santa Fe, the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian recognized Joseph's work with an exhibition in 1977. Other gallery shows in Vail, Colorado Springs and Las Vegas followed quickly. In 1981 Joseph's pottery was featured in major exhibits in three other major museums: the Native American Center for Living Arts in Niagara Falls, NY, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis, IN, and the Heard Museum in Phoenix, AZ. 1984 saw Joseph and his father Camilio doing a show at the Indian Jewelry Center in Sacramento, CA. In 1985 it was a show at the Sid Deusch Gallery in New York and in 1986 it was a show at McGee's Indian Den in Scottsdale again.

In 1994 Joseph participated in a show at the Four Winds Gallery in Pittsburgh, PA, along with Michael Naranjo, Roxanne Swentzel and Mike Bird. Later that year he enjoyed a solo gallery show at Andrea Fisher Fine Pottery in Santa Fe. In 1996 Joseph returned to the Four Winds Gallery in Pittsburgh with Virgil Ortiz, Roxanne Swentzell, Mike Bird and others. King Galleries of Scottsdale had a show featuring Joseph and his sister Grace Medicine Flower in 1998. That same year pieces made by Joseph and Grace were part of the "Harris Collection" show at the Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe, NM, along with pottery made by Tammy Garcia, his aunt Margaret Tafoya, his father Camilio Tafoya, Maria and Julian Martinez, Popovi Da, Tony Da, Teresita Naranjo and others.

Joseph taught his methods and techniques to his three children, Susan Snowflake Romero (Lonewolf), Rosemary Apple Blossom Lonewolf and Greg Lonewolf, before he passed on in 2014.

Some Exhibits that Featured Pieces by Joseph

• Choices and Change: American Indian Artists in the Southwest. Heard Museum North. Scottsdale, Arizona. June 30, 2007-2013
• Crafted to Perfection: The Nancy & Alan Cameron Collection of Southwestern Pottery. Rockwell Museum of Western Art. Corning, New York. November 22, 2007 - May 18, 2008
• Home: Native People in the Southwest. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. May 1 - September 2005
• The Collecting Passions of Dennis and Janis Lyon. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. May 1 - September 2004
• Every Picture Tells a Story. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. September 20, 2002 - 2005
• Hold Everything! Masterworks of Basketry and Pottery from the Heard Museum. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. November 1, 2001 - March 10, 2002
• Sharing the Heritage: American Indian Art from Oklahoma Private Collections. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. University of Oklahoma. Norman, Oklahoma. June 9 - September 11, 1994
• The Seven Families of Pueblo Pottery. Simply Santa Fe. Santa Fe, New Mexico. August 16 - 30, 1990
• Celebrating the Spirit: Contemporary Native American Art. Felicita Foundation for the Arts. Mathes Cultural Center. Escondido, California. October 21 - November 30, 1985
• American Indian Art in the 1980s. The Native American Center for the Living Arts. Niagara Falls, New York. 1981
• Joseph Lonewolf, Camilio Sunflower Tafoya, Pho-Sa-We; Presenting a New Collection of Their Incomparable Pottery Creations. Galeria Capistrano. San Juan Capistrano, California. September 26-28, 1980
• Joseph Lonewolf, Grace Medicine Flower. Adobe Galleries. Las Vegas, Nevada. March 24-26, 1977
• The Joseph Lonewolf Family Show. Tanner's Indian Arts. Scottsdale, Arizona. November 20 - 23, 1975
• 1975 Scottsdale National Indian Arts Exhibition. Safari Hotel Convention Center. Scottsdale, Arizona. March 12-15, 1975
• Tony Begay Memorial Show. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. February 2-17, 1974. Note: exhibition and auction to benefit the children of Tony Begay; includes artwork by Tony Begay and many of his Indian artist friends
• 1972 Scottsdale National Indian Arts Exhibition. Safari Hotel Convention Center. Scottsdale, Arizona. March 29 - April 2, 1972
• 1970 Scottsdale National Indian Arts Exhibition. Executive House. Scottsdale, Arizona. February 28 - March 8, 1970

Some Awards Earned by Joseph

• 1989 Gallup InterTribal Ceremonial. Best of Category Pottery, Contemporary Miniature
• 1987 Gallup InterTribal Ceremonial. Classification IV - Contemporary, any object: Second Place
• 1975 Scottsdale National Indian Arts Exhibition. Section C - Crafts, Classification VIII - Pottery, Division B - Adaptions: First Place
• 1972 Scottsdale National Indian Arts Exhibition. Section C - Crafts, Classification VIII - Pottery, Division B - Adaptions: First Place
• 1970 Scottsdale National Indian Arts Exhibition. Section B - Crafts, Classification VIII - Pottery, Division B - Adaptions: Honorable Mention

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.