The old history about the Mata Ortiz pottery tradition has been discarded. Some of the early pioneer potters have passed away and their adult children feel more free to share the more authentic histories. This is how history evolves.
There is an unauthentic tale by Spencer MacCallum that pottery making was re-discovered in Mata Ortiz by one man who had never seen a potter at work. That is a myth. That is not true. Mr. MacCallum needs to separate himself from this falsehood. In order to be truthful, these are steps that he can complete:
1. He needs to acknowledge that he made a purposely false narrative about the history of the Mata Ortiz pottery tradition. Mr. MacCallum has allowed an illegitimate narrative to continue.
2. MacCallum needs to state publicly that there were many pioneers of Mata Ortiz pottery. In addition, he needs to publicly disclose that several people in Mata Ortiz and Nuevo Casas Grandes were working together in the beginning years.
3. He needs to immediately state that he is not a professional anthropologist.
“A time comes a time when silence is betrayal.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
We acknowledge that MacCallum has done some helpful things regarding the town of Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, Mexico. However, for more than forty years he has marginalized, omitted and failed to tell the truth about many families in Mata Ortiz.