Santo Domingo Pueblo

 

 

Ava Marie “Cool-Ca-Ya” Coriz is a full blooded Native American Indian. She was born in 1948 into the Santo Domingo Pueblo. Ava is a member of the Antelope Clan. She was inspired to continue the long lived tradition of hand making jewelry from her ancestors. The lucrative aspect of the business also encouraged her to become a jewelry artist.


Ava specializes in constructing hand strung and hand ground beaded necklaces. She was taught all the fundamentals of working with raw nuggets of various stones at the age of 14. She learned the art of working with silver in 1969.


Today, Ava combines her knowledge of stones and silver to construct the finest beaded necklaces, using quality stones in the process. Ava is related to: Rodney Coriz, Daniel Coriz (nephews), and Lupe Pena (father).

Awards:
-1997 New Mexico State Fair 2nd Place
-1996 New Mexico State Fair 3rd Place
-1995 New Mexico State Fair 2nd Place

Publications:
-New Mexico Magazine