Pablita Velarde (September 19, 1918 – January 12, 2006) born Tse Tsan (Tewa: "Golden Dawn")[1] was an American Pueblo artist and painter.

[2][3] After the death of her mother, when Velarde was about five years old, she and two of her sisters were sent to St Catherine's Indian School in Santa Fe.

She obtained pigments from minerals and rocks, which she ground on a metate and mano until the result was a powdery substance from which she made her paints.

[13] In 1953, she was the first woman to receive the Grand Purchase Award at the Philbrook Museum of Art's Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Painting.

[14] The other artists awarded this honor included; Harrison Begay, Allan Houser, Marie Martinez, Awa Tsireh, Velino Herrera, Joe H. Herrera, Severa Tafoya, Ambrose Koannorse, Andrew Tsihnahjinnie, Fred Kabotie, and James Kewannywtewa.