"There's no two pots alike; they each have meaning."

Marie S. Juanico was born into Acoma Pueblo in September 1937. Her parents were Toribio and Delores Sanchez. Ethel Shields and Katherine Lewis were her sisters. Like her sisters, Marie learned how to make pottery through watching and working with their mother.

Marie primarily made traditional polychrome Acoma-style jars, bowls and owls, and decorated them with designs she learned from her mother. That said, Marie also said her pots often took on shapes of their own as she was coiling them. If a piece came out in an old style shape, she decorated it in old style designs. If a piece came out in a more contemporary shape, she innovated her own designs.

For many years her pottery was Marie's only source of income. Her expertise shows in the number of ribbons she won at the Santa Fe Indian Market, the New Mexico State Fair and the Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonial.

Marie's work is shown in the Indian Craft Shop at the US Department of the Interior in Washington, DC. Her work is also prominent in the private collections of Allan & Carol Hays, John Blom and Drs. Judith & Richard Lasky, among others.

Marie passed her knowledge on to her daughter, Delores Aragon Juanico, and provided encouragement to other Acoma potters, including Marietta Juanico, her daughter-in-law. Sadly, Marie passed on in early June, 2024.