 The Zuni Olla Maidens are known for the Pottery dance. Dancing to the beat of the drum, they move in choreographed steps with delicate painter pottery jars balanced on their heads. They also sing songs adapted from the men of the Zuni tribe while accompanying themselves with a drum, a woman’s rattle and a notched wooden instrument called a “frog box”.
The Zuni Olla Maidens, under the leadership of Cornelia Bowannie have been showcased at many events and venues. They have performed at such places as: the 1995 festival of American Folk Life in Washington, DC., the Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC., the Museum of American Indian in New York City, New York, the Ganandogan Native American Festival in Rochester, NY., the Banff Centre For the Arts in Banff, Alberta, Canada, the Festival of Native Peoples at the Cherokee Nation in North Carolina, the Gallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, NM., The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, and other places within the U.S and Canada. They have also been featured in calendars and other promotional materials and magazines. Cornelia has been featured on the cover of Native People’s Magazine.
The Zuni Olla Maidens have been featured in a documentary called “Singing Our Stories” along with Rita Coolidge and Walela, Ulali, and the Tuscarora Women Singers. It is featured at many colleges as part of their Native American studies. This group is also unique in that they are all related through blood ties: Cornelia, the matriarch has daughters, an aunt, and granddaughters who participate in the dance group.
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