Michael Hawley was an Anglo potter from Scottsdale, AZ, who got very interested in how to make Hopi pottery. Somehow he got himself "adopted" into the Hopi Tobacco clan and they showed him the traditional processes. However, he was required to produce his pottery using only strictly traditional techniques and materials, and his designs could be similar to those of the ancients but they also had to be unique to himself. No copying of anything produced over the last several centuries was allowed. The end result was essentially authentic "Sikyatki pottery" that was only a few years old rather than several centuries old.

Michael learned where to find clay at Antelope Mesa and how to process it. But he had to figure out on his own how to work with it, then how to fire his pieces with the soft lignite coal of the Hopi mesas, like the ancients did. That required different quantities of clay and temper in his mix, and different plants, minerals and binders for his paints. His designs had to be different, too, but still within the Sikyatki design tradition.

Michael signed his pieces "Chakoptewa" with the Tobacco clan "pipe" hallmark. He referred to all his pieces as "Chakoptewa Polychromes."