"Maria is the matriarch of five generations of potters and has been honored with more prizes than she [could] remember. She has been famous since the second decade of this century for the unique process of dung-fired pottery result[ing] in the highly valued black-on-black ware. She [was] invited to demonstrate at all the world's fairs up to World War II, and she [was] feted by presidents at the White House. She [held] two honorary doctorates, and laid the cornerstone of Rockefeller Center.

Intermingled in the life of this uncommon woman are both ancient and modern cultures. She [was] unpretentious, unfazed by worldwide acclaim, preferring to exemplify the pure Indian way of life for her son Adam and his wife Santana, her thirteen grandchildren, her thirty-two great-grandchildren, and her nineteen great-great-grandchildren" Peterson (1989, pp. 76-77).