Jereldine "Jeri" Redcorn (born November 23, 1939) is an

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

n artist who single-handedly revived traditional

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, who ...

pottery."Jeri Redcorn, Traditional Caddo Potter."
''Caddo Mounds State Historic Side.'' 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2012.

Background

Jereldine Redcorn was born on 23 November 1939 at the Indian Hospital in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

. Her father was Caddo, and her mother was

Potawatomi The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...

.Duty, Shannon Shaw
"Jeri Red Corn’s ‘Intertwining Scrolls’ picked to grace Oval Office."
19 Oct 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2012. Redcorn grew up in

Colony, Oklahoma Colony is a town in northeastern Washita County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 136 at the 2010 U.S. census, a decrease of 7.5 percent from 147 in 2000. It was named for the Seger Colony, founded in 1886, which taught modern agricult ...

, living on the allotment lands of her Caddo grandmother, Francis Elliot."Reviving a Lost Tradition."
''Texas Beyond History.'' Retrieved 28 July 2012. Her tribal name is Bah-ha Nutte, meaning "River Woman." She graduated from Colony High School, then earned a Bachelor of Science degree from

Wayland Baptist University Wayland Baptist University (WBU) is a private Baptist university based in Plainview, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Wayland Baptist has 11 campuses in five Texas cities, six states, American Samoa, and K ...

Plainview, Texas Plainview is a city in and the county seat of Hale County, Texas, Hale County, Texas, United States. The population was 20,187 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Plainview began when Z. T. Maxwell and Edwin Lowden Lowe establ ...

and her master's degree from the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Revival

In 1991, Redcorn and fellow members of the Caddo Cultural Club visited the Museum of the Red River in

Idabel, Oklahoma Idabel is a city in and the county seat of McCurtain County, Oklahoma, McCurtain County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 6,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is in Oklahoma's southeast corner, a tourist region known ...

. There they saw hundreds of precontact Caddo pots, which even the tribal elders were completely unfamiliar with. "That day we were so excited that we decided as a group, as a tribe, we would learn how to do it and make Caddo pottery once again," Redcorn said. Her brother taught her the basics of coiled pottery. With extreme difficulty, she learned burnishing and engraving techniques.

Artwork

In 1991, Redcorn began experimenting and teaching herself how to make pottery using traditional Caddo methods, which involve coiling the clay and incising for decoration."New Acquisition: Clay vessels by Native American potter Jeri Redcorn added to Smithsonian collections."
''Smithsonian Science.'' 28 April 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2012. She uses metal or bone tools to incise her pots with ancestral Caddo designs and hand fires them, instead of using a commercial

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...

. To add color, she rubs red clay into the incised designs.

Collections

Redcorn's pottery is found in several public collections, including the following: * Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum *

Oklahoma History Center The Oklahoma History Center (OHC) is the history museum of the state of Oklahoma. Located on an plot across the street from the Governor's mansion at 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive in Oklahoma City, the current museum opened in 2005 and is operated by ...

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

George Gustav Heye Center The National Museum of the American Indian–New York, the George Gustav Heye Center, is a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in Manhattan, New York City. The museum is part of the Sm ...

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. With 4.4 ...

. In 2009, First Lady

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...

displayed a pot by Jeri Redcorn, ''Intertwining Scrolls'', in the White House.

Personal life

Redcorn was married to Charles Redcorn, an

Osage Nation The Osage Nation ( ) () is a Midwestern Native American nation of the Great Plains. The tribe began in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 1620 A.D along with other groups of its language family, then migrated west in the 17th cen ...

author. Together, they lived in

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, 3rd most populous city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,026 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the most populous city and the county seat of Clevel ...

until his death in 2017.

Notes

External links

Redcorn Pottery
official website * , video of Jeri Redcorn by the National Museum of the American Indian
Oral History Interview with Jereldine Redcorn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Redcorn, Jeri Living people 1939 births Native American potters American potters Ceramists from Oklahoma People from Norman, Oklahoma People from Washita County, Oklahoma Caddo people Potawatomi artists American women potters 21st-century American women 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native American artists Native American women potters