Photo Courtesy of Artist
Pottery (Mattaponi)
King George, VA
Autumn Morningstar Custalow Alfaro was born and raised on the Mattaponi Reservation in King William County, VA. She has a strong love for her indigenous culture, community, and artistic expression. From a very young age, thanks to her grandmother, Autumn has been deeply involved in learning Mattaponi traditions and participating in tribal community events. “Passing along this knowledge to our youth has become a high priority in my life,” explains Autumn.
Autumn studied business degree and graphic design in college. “Here is where I was inspired to use my artistic talents to help be a voice for my people and share our culture and traditions on a larger scale. In doing so, I created a magazine that collected stories of our past and present time, created posters that celebrated our culture and my most recent project, indigenous curriculum,” says Autumn.
“I no longer live on the reservation but still visit often and now have a family of my own. I am a mother of two wonderful boys that I have the joy of passing on this knowledge to. What brings me even more joy is being able to bring my children to visit with their great grandmother where they can learn straight from the source.”
Autumn was awarded a 2025 Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship to support her work with her grandmother, Christine Rippling Water Custalow, in traditional Mattaponi black ware pottery.