 Michael Kabotie was born September 3, 1942 in Shongopovi, Arizona to Alice Talayaonema, a traditional Hopi basket weaver, and the Hopi artist Fred Kabotie.He grew up in the village of Shongopavi and when the high school on the Hopi reservation closed, he moved and graduated from Haskell Indian School in Lawrence, Kansas in 1961.While in his junior year in high school, he was invited to spend the summer at the Southwest Indian Art Project at the University of Arizona, other participants included Fritz Scholder, Helen Hardin, Charles Loloma, and Joe Hererra (Hererra became a lifelong friend and a primary artistic mentor).