Cliffton is from Santo Domingo Pueblo located between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Santo Domingo is one of the largest of the 19 pueblos in New Mexico and is well known for its jewelry, rich cultures, and beliefs.

Cliffton was born at the Santa Fe Indian Hospital on August 22, 1978 to the proud parents of Laura Aguilar and Matthew Coriz. Cliffton is the second oldest in his family. He has three brothers Lonnie, Brandon, and Travis, with one sister Sharnelle. He was raised and received his early education at Santo Domingo Pueblo. Cliffton attended and graduated from Bernalillo High School in 1996. From high school, he continued his learning experiences and attended Universal Technical Institute (UTI), a vocational school in Phoenix, Arizona. He graduated in 1999 from UTI where he earned his Associate of Occupational Studies Degree.

Upon completion of his education, Cliffton made a major decision because of his heritage and love for designing and crafting jewelry by returning to Santo Domingo Pueblo and start his own business of creating some of the finest jewelry to come out of Santo Domingo Pueblo.

Cliffton is proud to be the only family member to carry on the tradition of making Native American hand-made jewelry. Cliffton gives all of the credit for his skills, knowledge, and designs in making great jewelry to his mother and father. At a young age, he started helping his parents by cutting, drilling, and basic stringing. By the time he turned 15 he started working with silver, but he has a keen ability of mixing and working with turquoise, numerous natural stones, and seashells.

Cliffton still learns and has the mentorship from his mother and father by using his parents’ techniques to produce his own style of turquoise, stones, seashells, and silver by making his beautiful jewelry pieces.

Cliffton decided to work on jewelry because he enjoys sharing his Native American culture with people and has a real since of pride when people wear his creations. He has said many times that there is a part of him and his family in every piece of jewelry he makes and that spirit goes with the person wearing it.

Clifton won the B.C. Waddell Memorial Purchase Award in Jewelry at the 2005 Southwest Indian Art Fair for his Spiny Oyster Shell Necklace