[3][4] McHorse lived off-reservation in her childhood but spent summers in Fluted Rock, Arizona, herding sheep and learning about Navajo oral history from her grandmother, Zonith Bahe.

[4] She met her future husband Joel P. McHorse at IAIA and was influenced by his grandmother, Lena Archuleta of Taos Pueblo, to begin working with ceramics.

They had two children, Joel Christopher and Jonathan Thomas, originally living in Taos but later moving to Santa Fe.

[5] Much of her work has a signature black surface, created by depriving the clay of oxygen during firing and making her creations popular in contemporary art venues.

[5][13] She preferred to do the firing in the traditional mode but used the electric kiln for pre-firing larger pieces, some up to two feet, to prevent the chance of breakage.