Martinez family was as modern as any other American family. When the Manhattan Project to build the atom bomb began at Los Alamos, near San Ildefonso, both Julian and their son, Popovi Da, worked there as machinists. Nonetheless, an invincible aura of traditionalism has continued to surround them. Julian’s death in 1943, combined with Maria’s longevity—she lived until 1980, when she was ninety-three—has further tended to artificially isolate her as a figure of genius. She was the first Native artisan to be the subject of a full-length biography, published by the anthropologist Alice Lee
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