Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo) Silversmithing: Legacy Names and the Bird-Romero Record
Ohkay Owingeh—known in older scholarship and collector references as San Juan Pueblo—is a Tewa-speaking pueblo on the Rio Grande north of Española, New Mexico, and the ancestral home of the Tewa people. The pueblo's silver tradition is historically thin and primarily associated in the corpus with individual documented smiths rather than a broad community practice. The legacy name "San Juan Pueblo" appears throughout older hallmark references and collector literature; Ohkay Owingeh is the community's own preferred name.
Mateo's Field Notes
Bedinger's corpus documents an individual maker rather than a broad community tradition: Antonio Duran, a San Juan (Ohkay Owingeh) smith, is illustrated in the book's figure captions—bracelets attributed to him appear at figures 91a and 91b, including one illustrated alongside Hopi-style work to show regional comparison (Bedinger 1973:figures 91, caption at approx. p. 409–410, 560). The figure captions identify Duran as "a San Juan smith" with the bracelets held in the University of Colorado Museum collection.
Like Santa Clara, Ohkay Owingeh's primary documented tradition is pottery and textile arts rather than silversmithing. The contemporary presence of makers such as Mike Bird-Romero in our directory reflects the current generation of Ohkay Owingeh artists working in silver on their own terms, outside the thin historical record.
Collectors seeking Ohkay Owingeh silverwork should note that the legacy pueblo name "San Juan" appears in older Hougart entries, exhibition records, and dealer provenance documentation. The two names refer to the same community; the community itself has used Ohkay Owingeh as its official name since 2005.
Collector's Handbook
- "San Juan Pueblo" in older hallmark references = Ohkay Owingeh. When a Hougart entry, gallery provenance, or museum record states "San Juan Pueblo," that is Ohkay Owingeh. The name change is administrative; the people, place, and craft record are continuous.
- Mike Bird-Romero's individual work is the strongest contemporary Ohkay Owingeh silversmithing profile documented in our corpus. His hallmark, style, and attribution are the primary reference for this community's contemporary silver production.
Ohkay Owingeh Silversmiths in Our Directory
1 Ohkay Owingeh artist is documented in the T.Skies Co-Op Silversmith Directory:
Community corrections and additional documentation for Ohkay Owingeh smiths are welcomed through our contact page.
Primary Sources
- Bedinger, Margery. Indian Silver: Navajo and Pueblo Jewelers. University of New Mexico Press, 1973. Figures 91a–b captions (Antonio Duran, San Juan smith); p. 409–410, 560.
- Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th ed. (2022).