[2] She began making pottery at age eight, after studying with her great aunt, Helice Vallo, and other Acoma Pueblo women.

Lewis handled household chores and helped her husband with the farming, yet still found time for her pottery; seven of her nine children went on to become potters themselves.

[1] As an adult artist, Lewis was never in contact with archaeologists, museum curators, collectors, or many tourists due to Acoma Pueblo's remote location; she also did not travel to powwows or fairs, though she did occasionally sell her pottery in Grants, the closest nearby town at 20 miles away.

[1][5] Her work first began to be recognized outside of the Acoma Pueblo in 1950, when she won the a blue ribbon at the annual Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial.

[3] After the Gallup prize, Lewis began to sign her work, an act which created controversy within the Pueblo community.

[8] After being mined, the dry raw material is sifted, pulverized, and tempered with potsherds that have been ground into powder to make the clay strong.

Acoma clay, traditionally, is gray in color; its strength enables it to form thin walls of pottery.

[8] Coiled pots taking substantially longer to build and require skill to keep the clay the perfect balance between wet and dry as it's being built.

In addition, Native American pottery making is passed down the matriarchal line—mothers, grandmothers, and aunts teach the next generation.

In 1977, Lewis was invited to the White House and in 1983 she received New Mexico's Governor's Award for outstanding personal contribution to the art of the state.