Gene Pooyouma — Hopi Silversmith
Gene Pooyouma is a Hopi overlay smith. Margaret Nickelson Wright's Hopi Silver records that he began silver work in 1992 and that he is the "Nephew of Allen Pooyama" (Wright 2003, p. 108), the silversmith other books spell Allen Pooyouma. His brother, Darrell Pooyouma, began in 1995 (Wright 2003, p. 108).
Bille Hougart's Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks lists him as "Gene Pooyouma (Hopi)," working in overlay, the nephew of Allen Pooyouma and brother of Darrell Pooyouma (Hougart 2022, p. 254).
He is not the older Gene Pooyouma. Paula A. Baxter's Encyclopedia of Native American Jewelry records that the jeweler Preston Monongye learned to work silver from his uncle Gene Pooyouma in the mid-1930s (Baxter 2000, p. 110), a different man, whom Hougart merges with this Gene in a single entry (Hougart 2022, p. 254).
His hallmark
Wright draws his mark as a sun with a corn plant, indexed as "Sun & Corn Plant" (Wright 2003, pp. 108, 125), and Hougart gives it as "Sun with a cornstalk" (Hougart 2022, p. 254). His brother Darrell marks D P (Wright 2003, p. 108).
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References
- Wright, Margaret Nickelson. Hopi Silver: The History and Hallmarks of Hopi Silversmithing. Revised edition. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2003.
- Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks: Silversmiths, Designers, Guilds and Traders. 5th edition. Washington, DC: BilleHougartBooks, 2022.
- Baxter, Paula A., with Allison Bird-Romero. Encyclopedia of Native American Jewelry: A Guide to History, People, and Terms. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 2000.
This profile is maintained in support of Native American silversmiths and compiled from published references. See something inaccurate, or want to add to it? Contact us.