Mary Jewett Pritchard

Mary Jewett Pritchard, 1944Mary Jewett Pritchard (September 17, 1905 – June 6, 1992) was an American Samoan textile artist. Pritchard is widely credited with reviving the art of siapo, the Samoan version of tapa, handmade cloth created by pounding the bark of plants.

Early life

Mary Rose Jewett was born September 17, 1905, in Pago Pago on the island of Tutuila in American Samoa. Her parents were Felesita Fuga, member of well-known Pago Pago families, and Joseph Jewett, an American construction worker hired to build the main deck in Pago Pago Harbor. Mary attended Catholic Sisters School in Atu'u through the fifth grade, the highest level offered to girls at the time. She married Ron Pritchard, from the village of Leone, in 1925. Mary and her husband spent time regularly in Leone, where she watched the women make siapo mamanu, a freehand decoration of siapo cloth. She began learning the craft of creating and decorating siapo mamanu from the artists of Leone in 1929, especially her mentors Tui‘uli Leoso and Kolone Fai‘ivae Leoso.

Governor of American Samoa Peter Tali Coleman described the importance of Pritchard's work: