Some archeologists from a museum came to the Pueblo
Indians. The men dug up a buried village, with many pieces of broken
pottery and some wall paintings. When Maria saw the broken pottery,
She wondered about the women who had made it. She found small pieces
of shiny black stone in the ruins. She knew that they had been used
to polish the pottery, for she used such stones herself. As soon
as her husband saw the pottery he noticed the strange patterns drawn
on the surface. He began to try to copy the delicate paintings.
The museum director found out that Maria could make beautiful bowls.
He wanted to buy her work to sell at the museum. He also asked her
if she could mend some of the broken old ones. When she brought
back the first mended bowls, the delighted director gave her many
more to do. A new world opened up for Maria and her husband, a world
in which they could really use their creative ideas. They both had
the opportunity to reproduce the ancient Indian art and recapture
the beauty of the past.
