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Introduction:
When you hold a nice, old Navajo cuff bracelet in your hand, appreciating the overall design, finish and maybe the choice of a fine piece of domestic turquoise, you're connecting yourself with a tradition that dates back only a relatively few years. The first, documented Navajo silversmith to hang out his shingle, was in Flagstaff, Arizona in 1870. Yet, jewelry making by American Indian artists surely has an older origin than that and we will discuss the growth of this wonderful, wearable art and its many techniques, dating back thousands of years.
Mogollon, Hohokham, Anasazi and older...
As more and more of the earliest ruins of pre-Columbian communities across the Southwest are excavated, archaeologists frequently find examples of the earlies American jewelry designs. Some of these, successfully dated, are bits and tabs of polished shell, drilled for hanging, possibly as earrings, or as beads. In Southern New Mexico, along the Mogollon Rim, excavations have also found drilled turquoise tabs. These finds are usually dated to the equivalent of Europe's Dark Ages -- the 700s and 800s, but further East, near present-day Clovis, NM, ample evidence has been found of clear, well designed stonework in flaked projectile and knife points dating back 10,000 years. Evidence all over NM and Arizona shows that there was substantial populations of both wandering bands of hunters as well as more stationary farming bands at that time. Beads also, made of bone and stone, are found to tie into this Paleolithic culture. We may ever know what these people called themselves, but we have evidence that they enjoyed adorning themselves with beads and necklaces, possibly earrings as well.
The extensive farming communities of the Hohokham culture in the central valley of Arizona show evidence of sophisticated irrigation and trade with communities far to the South in present-day Mexico. Ornaments and beads made from shell are very common here -- many hundreds of miles from the nearest coastline. Such evidence suggests that both shell and turquoise was considered to have great value. Turquoise has been found here in many worked shapes. It's clear from the archaeological record, that working turquoise and shell into wearable objects is one of the oldest, continuously occurring forms of jewelry in America.
Much later, in central New Mexico and along the Black Mesa in Northern Arizona, large cities grew along water courses, and near sites of religious significance. The largest of these, that has been excavated, is known as Chaco Canyon -- it's culture seems to have been the highpoint of the great Anasazi culture. The word "anasazi" is also of great importance, as it comes from a Navajo expression meaning "the ancestors of our enemies", marking the 1200's to 1300's as the point at which nomadic Athabascan bands were migrating into the Southwest from the North. Chaco Canyon was equally, it seems, a great religious center, but also a thriving city of commerce and trade. Trade was conducted with tribes and bands to the South, across the present-day National border, all the way into the heart of the Mayan and later, the Aztec society. In addition, wandering bands, who became known as Apaches, Comanches and Navajos engaged in trade with the Anasazi ancestors of the today's Pueblo Nations.
The excavations in these ingeniously built, laid-stone cities have brought out a great deal of refined beads - made from turquoise, jet (lignite coal, common in the area), serpentine (also common) and shell. In addition, there have been many significant finds of beautifully crafted mosaic inlay of stones onto shells and shell tabs. There has been little change in the form of this type of jewelry, still made by the artists of Santo Domingo Pueblo, about 30 miles South of Santa Fe, NM. These days, they employ modern adhesives, diamond cutting wheels and modern polishing techniques, but the spirit of the work remains as it was -- only much more refined. This work is the father (or mother) of present-day Southwestern jewelry.
1540
In the late 1530s, a group of shipwrecked Spanish and at least one African lost their way along the Gulf coast, wandered North and eventually made their way into what is present-day Zuni, NM. They were not well-received, and after a skirmish, retreated. After several more years, they finally made their way back into Mexico, and began telling stories of the "cities of gold in Cibolla country" The Spanish word for bison is cebolla, and they had never seen such animals before, but it was the accounts of the "golden cities" that caught the interest of the authorities, and, soon, an expedition was mounted, headed by a shrewd pragmatist, Hidalgo Francisco Coronado. He led his conquistadors and the friars North, along the Rio Bravo del Norte (now the Rio Grande) into what is now New Mexico, establishing communities for the Crown and making converts of the local Puebloan peoples.
The year 1540, he stopped his trek North near present-day Bernalillo, NM, and wintered there in the Keresan speaking Pueblo of Ka'Ua. During that winter, the generous hosts got to know their guests, who brought not only a new language and a new religion, but metals of all kinds into the homes of Pueblo people. It is well-documented that as the Pueblo workmen employed by the Spanish to build churches and homes, they learned to smith iron for hardware: nails, implements, tools, hinges and locks, and at the same time, learned to make jewelry from silver. The earliest Pueblo silver making involved cutting designs, usually religious themed designs for the Spanish from flattened silver ingots. As the work refined, and soldering was learned, they began making beads and necklaces as well as bracelets and rings. Almost all of the enduring examples of Colonial Era Pueblo silverwork show some ornamentation from striking tools, or wire applique, but little in the way of bezel set stones. As they were used to making beads and tabs from stones, examples still survive that combine these with silver worked into beads or crosses. One of the oldest surviving techniques still seen in Pueblo and later adopted by the Navajo, is the making of the double-crossed necklaces that trace to Isleta Pueblo, just South of Albuquerque.
Many of the earliest symbols and designs used in this early silverwork, were of Spanish origin, as most of this work was made for wealthy Spanish landowners. Crosses were common, as were "Najas" -- the half-moon shaped ornament worn by both conquistadors and their horses. The open bottomed form was very old in Europe when it was carried across the ocean. It was worn as a good luck charm, and specifically protection against "the evil eye" as well as a suggestion of the half-moon of Islam, widespread in Southern Spain until 1492. Necklaces that combined Christian motifs with this ancient pagan one were made -- a few still survive. Another form which gained in popularity with the Pueblo silversmiths was a silver bead that resembled the pomegranates found on the tables of the wealthy Spanish families. It was a large, plain round bead that carried a small floral burst of three or four petals at one end. These were strung into necklaces which held a naja as the central pendant. At some much later time, because the beads also resembled the blossom of squash and gourd plants, the necklace was described as a "Squash blossom" necklace, but its origins as seen in the earliest work are clearly pomegranates!
The evidence is clear that over the years of Spanish Colonial rule -- briefly broken between 1680 and 1693 during the Pueblo Revolt -- that the Pueblo craftsmen became as proficient at working metal -- silver included -- as they were at carpentry or laying stone. 1540 also saw the introduction of cut gemstones, and coral, especially prized by the Spanish. The Pueblo artists recognized the opportunity and began to actively mine the digs near Cerrillos, NM, which had been the site of ongoing turquoise mining 1000 years before. By 1600, the use of soft silver bezels to hold shaped turquoise, shell, and coral was finding its way into Pueblo silverwork. Although this type of jewelry making had already been practiced for a hundred years by members of the Indian Nations in Mexico, to the South, 1540 could be thought of as the year that silversmithing reached New Mexico.
Bosque Redondo
Jewelry making continued in the Southwest, pretty much as it had through the Spanish Colonial period, through the years that saw New Mexico and Arizona become the Northern Territories of Mexico. The cultures of the Pueblos and Spanish continued to mingle, technologies being shared, and the indigenous working of metal continued to improve, slowly becoming more sophisticated as time passed. Because there was little Gold or Silver to be mined in NM and AZ, the authorities in Mexico left their people in the North pretty much on their own, so change came very slow, if at all. It ended abruptly in 1848 as the war with Mexico ended with Mexico ceding a huge part of it's National holdings to the American Government. The Treaty of Gualdalupe Hidalgo gave the US a chance for opportunity in the new lands -- arrid though they were. Just after this time, around 1853, near Fort Defiance, AZ, a Navajo man, later identified as Atsidi Sani -- (Navajo: "Old Maker of Silver") began working as a blacksmith working iron and steel and probably brass and copper. He was the first documented Navajo to work metal.
The Treaty also brought a large population of American Indians and Mexican Spanish citizens under the "protection" of the USA. They now looked to Washington to protect them from the predations of marauding bands of Navajo and Apaches who were systematically taking their livestock and valuables whenever they could. Even crops were not safe, so finally, in 1864, as the Civil War ended and reconstruction was the word of the day, Washington sent a wiry little trapper/scout, Kit Carson, to round up the troublesome Navajo, and march them all to a large tract of dry, useless land near Fort Sumner, NM -- hundreds of miles from their homelands. His relentless campaign to reduce the Navajo's ability to provide for their families included burning crops, killing livestock, and in a final, brutal act: the cutting down of all the orchards of apples and apricots that the Navajo had planted in the Canyon de Chelly, AZ. Unable to continue their lives, hundreds of families joined in the forced march to whatever awaited in the wastelands of Eastern New Mexico in the custody of the US Army.
This disastrous policy tore thousands of Navajo people from their homes to march them across some of the most inhospitable land in the USA, to a place that could neither support man or beast became known as the Navajos' "long walk". Many died on that sad journey, and when they arrived, hungry and cold, disease became widespread. Hundreds died. Finally, it became clear to the Army, left to care for these people, that they would have to issue rations to kept them and their livestock fed, since the land could not raise crops. Looking back, the old stories say that this decision led to the beginning of Navajo silversmithing, but the stories may actually be true!
Meal Tickets
When you hold a nice, old Navajo cuff bracelet in your hand, appreciating the overall design, finish and maybe the choice of a fine piece of domestic turquoise, you're connecting yourself with a tradition that dates back only a relatively few years. The first, documented Navajo silversmith to hang out his shingle, was in Flagstaff, Arizona in 1870. Yet, jewelry making by American Indian artists surely has an older origin than that and we will discuss the growth of this wonderful, wearable art and its many techniques, dating back thousands of years.
Mogollon, Hohokham, Anasazi and older...
As more and more of the earliest ruins of pre-Columbian communities across the Southwest are excavated, archaeologists frequently find examples of the earlies American jewelry designs. Some of these, successfully dated, are bits and tabs of polished shell, drilled for hanging, possibly as earrings, or as beads. In Southern New Mexico, along the Mogollon Rim, excavations have also found drilled turquoise tabs. These finds are usually dated to the equivalent of Europe's Dark Ages -- the 700s and 800s, but further East, near present-day Clovis, NM, ample evidence has been found of clear, well designed stonework in flaked projectile and knife points dating back 10,000 years. Evidence all over NM and Arizona shows that there was substantial populations of both wandering bands of hunters as well as more stationary farming bands at that time. Beads also, made of bone and stone, are found to tie into this Paleolithic culture. We may ever know what these people called themselves, but we have evidence that they enjoyed adorning themselves with beads and necklaces, possibly earrings as well.
The extensive farming communities of the Hohokham culture in the central valley of Arizona show evidence of sophisticated irrigation and trade with communities far to the South in present-day Mexico. Ornaments and beads made from shell are very common here -- many hundreds of miles from the nearest coastline. Such evidence suggests that both shell and turquoise was considered to have great value. Turquoise has been found here in many worked shapes. It's clear from the archaeological record, that working turquoise and shell into wearable objects is one of the oldest, continuously occurring forms of jewelry in America.
Much later, in central New Mexico and along the Black Mesa in Northern Arizona, large cities grew along water courses, and near sites of religious significance. The largest of these, that has been excavated, is known as Chaco Canyon -- it's culture seems to have been the highpoint of the great Anasazi culture. The word "anasazi" is also of great importance, as it comes from a Navajo expression meaning "the ancestors of our enemies", marking the 1200's to 1300's as the point at which nomadic Athabascan bands were migrating into the Southwest from the North. Chaco Canyon was equally, it seems, a great religious center, but also a thriving city of commerce and trade. Trade was conducted with tribes and bands to the South, across the present-day National border, all the way into the heart of the Mayan and later, the Aztec society. In addition, wandering bands, who became known as Apaches, Comanches and Navajos engaged in trade with the Anasazi ancestors of the today's Pueblo Nations.
The excavations in these ingeniously built, laid-stone cities have brought out a great deal of refined beads - made from turquoise, jet (lignite coal, common in the area), serpentine (also common) and shell. In addition, there have been many significant finds of beautifully crafted mosaic inlay of stones onto shells and shell tabs. There has been little change in the form of this type of jewelry, still made by the artists of Santo Domingo Pueblo, about 30 miles South of Santa Fe, NM. These days, they employ modern adhesives, diamond cutting wheels and modern polishing techniques, but the spirit of the work remains as it was -- only much more refined. This work is the father (or mother) of present-day Southwestern jewelry.
1540
In the late 1530s, a group of shipwrecked Spanish and at least one African lost their way along the Gulf coast, wandered North and eventually made their way into what is present-day Zuni, NM. They were not well-received, and after a skirmish, retreated. After several more years, they finally made their way back into Mexico, and began telling stories of the "cities of gold in Cibolla country" The Spanish word for bison is cebolla, and they had never seen such animals before, but it was the accounts of the "golden cities" that caught the interest of the authorities, and, soon, an expedition was mounted, headed by a shrewd pragmatist, Hidalgo Francisco Coronado. He led his conquistadors and the friars North, along the Rio Bravo del Norte (now the Rio Grande) into what is now New Mexico, establishing communities for the Crown and making converts of the local Puebloan peoples.
The year 1540, he stopped his trek North near present-day Bernalillo, NM, and wintered there in the Keresan speaking Pueblo of Ka'Ua. During that winter, the generous hosts got to know their guests, who brought not only a new language and a new religion, but metals of all kinds into the homes of Pueblo people. It is well-documented that as the Pueblo workmen employed by the Spanish to build churches and homes, they learned to smith iron for hardware: nails, implements, tools, hinges and locks, and at the same time, learned to make jewelry from silver. The earliest Pueblo silver making involved cutting designs, usually religious themed designs for the Spanish from flattened silver ingots. As the work refined, and soldering was learned, they began making beads and necklaces as well as bracelets and rings. Almost all of the enduring examples of Colonial Era Pueblo silverwork show some ornamentation from striking tools, or wire applique, but little in the way of bezel set stones. As they were used to making beads and tabs from stones, examples still survive that combine these with silver worked into beads or crosses. One of the oldest surviving techniques still seen in Pueblo and later adopted by the Navajo, is the making of the double-crossed necklaces that trace to Isleta Pueblo, just South of Albuquerque.
Many of the earliest symbols and designs used in this early silverwork, were of Spanish origin, as most of this work was made for wealthy Spanish landowners. Crosses were common, as were "Najas" -- the half-moon shaped ornament worn by both conquistadors and their horses. The open bottomed form was very old in Europe when it was carried across the ocean. It was worn as a good luck charm, and specifically protection against "the evil eye" as well as a suggestion of the half-moon of Islam, widespread in Southern Spain until 1492. Necklaces that combined Christian motifs with this ancient pagan one were made -- a few still survive. Another form which gained in popularity with the Pueblo silversmiths was a silver bead that resembled the pomegranates found on the tables of the wealthy Spanish families. It was a large, plain round bead that carried a small floral burst of three or four petals at one end. These were strung into necklaces which held a naja as the central pendant. At some much later time, because the beads also resembled the blossom of squash and gourd plants, the necklace was described as a "Squash blossom" necklace, but its origins as seen in the earliest work are clearly pomegranates!
The evidence is clear that over the years of Spanish Colonial rule -- briefly broken between 1680 and 1693 during the Pueblo Revolt -- that the Pueblo craftsmen became as proficient at working metal -- silver included -- as they were at carpentry or laying stone. 1540 also saw the introduction of cut gemstones, and coral, especially prized by the Spanish. The Pueblo artists recognized the opportunity and began to actively mine the digs near Cerrillos, NM, which had been the site of ongoing turquoise mining 1000 years before. By 1600, the use of soft silver bezels to hold shaped turquoise, shell, and coral was finding its way into Pueblo silverwork. Although this type of jewelry making had already been practiced for a hundred years by members of the Indian Nations in Mexico, to the South, 1540 could be thought of as the year that silversmithing reached New Mexico.
Bosque Redondo
Jewelry making continued in the Southwest, pretty much as it had through the Spanish Colonial period, through the years that saw New Mexico and Arizona become the Northern Territories of Mexico. The cultures of the Pueblos and Spanish continued to mingle, technologies being shared, and the indigenous working of metal continued to improve, slowly becoming more sophisticated as time passed. Because there was little Gold or Silver to be mined in NM and AZ, the authorities in Mexico left their people in the North pretty much on their own, so change came very slow, if at all. It ended abruptly in 1848 as the war with Mexico ended with Mexico ceding a huge part of it's National holdings to the American Government. The Treaty of Gualdalupe Hidalgo gave the US a chance for opportunity in the new lands -- arrid though they were. Just after this time, around 1853, near Fort Defiance, AZ, a Navajo man, later identified as Atsidi Sani -- (Navajo: "Old Maker of Silver") began working as a blacksmith working iron and steel and probably brass and copper. He was the first documented Navajo to work metal.
The Treaty also brought a large population of American Indians and Mexican Spanish citizens under the "protection" of the USA. They now looked to Washington to protect them from the predations of marauding bands of Navajo and Apaches who were systematically taking their livestock and valuables whenever they could. Even crops were not safe, so finally, in 1864, as the Civil War ended and reconstruction was the word of the day, Washington sent a wiry little trapper/scout, Kit Carson, to round up the troublesome Navajo, and march them all to a large tract of dry, useless land near Fort Sumner, NM -- hundreds of miles from their homelands. His relentless campaign to reduce the Navajo's ability to provide for their families included burning crops, killing livestock, and in a final, brutal act: the cutting down of all the orchards of apples and apricots that the Navajo had planted in the Canyon de Chelly, AZ. Unable to continue their lives, hundreds of families joined in the forced march to whatever awaited in the wastelands of Eastern New Mexico in the custody of the US Army.
This disastrous policy tore thousands of Navajo people from their homes to march them across some of the most inhospitable land in the USA, to a place that could neither support man or beast became known as the Navajos' "long walk". Many died on that sad journey, and when they arrived, hungry and cold, disease became widespread. Hundreds died. Finally, it became clear to the Army, left to care for these people, that they would have to issue rations to kept them and their livestock fed, since the land could not raise crops. Looking back, the old stories say that this decision led to the beginning of Navajo silversmithing, but the stories may actually be true!
Meal Tickets
The record says the Army employed a big population of Mexican leather and metal workers to provide the tools and tack needed for their horses and the support of the local fort. These skilled workers were given blank brass tags with which to tool indelible ration tickets. The head of each Navajo family would be given one, and that would be the way that family's consumption of foodstuffs and livestock feed as well as blankets and tools Some -- forever unknown -- Navajo headman got the idea that if he hung around with the Mexican metal workers, he might be able to figure out how to make up his own meal tickets! After four miserable years, the Army realized that it was costing them much more to feed and shelter these Navajo people than anyone could have guessed! Meanwhile the Navajos had begun to learn quite a bit from the Mexican leather and metal workers, amassing trade goods in caches as they went, until, the Army finally could bear it no more. In 1868, it was announced that the Navajo would be allowed to return to their homelands. Along with new horses, sheep and blankets, they took something back with them that has been their pride ever since. They took back crude silversmithing tools: tongs, dies, dapping blocks and chasing hammers along with stamps originally borrowed from the leather stamps used by the Mexican leather workers. They had learned a great deal, and now had the means to create jewelry leading to hard cash, not just trade staples. One of the first Navajo silversmiths was Atsidii Sani, another was Atsidii Chon, or "ugly maker of silver". They initially horded the knowledge and skill within their clan, but eventually relented and taught the skills to younger men, who taught them to their children. A brand-new art was born from the ashes of the fires in the Bosque Redondo: Navajo Silversmithing! A few years later in 1870, his name lost to us, a solitary Navajo silversmith hung out a sign from a livery shop in Flagstaff, AZ offering silver jewelry and repairs.
Originally taking its design ideas from the Spanish Colonial and Mexican silverwork, Navajo jewelry utilized decoration from repeated struck blows upon stamping tools --often artist made from black iron pipe sections. These curved tools would easily strike deeply into the cast-ingot silver used in those days. Much of the earliest silver work was made from flattened ingots cast from melted down Mexican Pesos, which actually had a higher silver content that sterling! Sterling is 92.5% silver, but old Mexican coins were often as much as 97% or even higher silver content. Nowadays, "coin silver" usually refers to lesser alloys of silver of about 80%, but in the 1870s until the 1920s, coins were something to be horded!
Early Navajo silverwork also often made necklaces and other items directly from the coins. A shallow-dapped (rounded) coin could be soldered to another, thus making a usable bead. Necklaces of such beads would provide the owner with an immediately recognizable source of trade tender if cash was hard to get. As the more traditional NAvajo families still were herders during the growing season, they would carry their wealth with them, so large belts of heavy silver disks, resembling the shell (Sp: Concha) belts and sashes worn by the Pueblos in dance and religious observances, became a form of tradeable currency. Ample Navajo ladies of means would often wear many necklaces, many bracelets and belts at once, and became known to Pueblo people as the "many bracelet people" as a derisive term meant to convey the idea that Navajos had no taste. But soon, their wearing of their beautiful, distinctive jewelry was noticed by folks besides the locals, and by the 1920s, a demand was growing outside the Southwest, for this work -- even among the wealthy American families back East!
Zuni -- The cost of a Horse or Two
Originally taking its design ideas from the Spanish Colonial and Mexican silverwork, Navajo jewelry utilized decoration from repeated struck blows upon stamping tools --often artist made from black iron pipe sections. These curved tools would easily strike deeply into the cast-ingot silver used in those days. Much of the earliest silver work was made from flattened ingots cast from melted down Mexican Pesos, which actually had a higher silver content that sterling! Sterling is 92.5% silver, but old Mexican coins were often as much as 97% or even higher silver content. Nowadays, "coin silver" usually refers to lesser alloys of silver of about 80%, but in the 1870s until the 1920s, coins were something to be horded!
Early Navajo silverwork also often made necklaces and other items directly from the coins. A shallow-dapped (rounded) coin could be soldered to another, thus making a usable bead. Necklaces of such beads would provide the owner with an immediately recognizable source of trade tender if cash was hard to get. As the more traditional NAvajo families still were herders during the growing season, they would carry their wealth with them, so large belts of heavy silver disks, resembling the shell (Sp: Concha) belts and sashes worn by the Pueblos in dance and religious observances, became a form of tradeable currency. Ample Navajo ladies of means would often wear many necklaces, many bracelets and belts at once, and became known to Pueblo people as the "many bracelet people" as a derisive term meant to convey the idea that Navajos had no taste. But soon, their wearing of their beautiful, distinctive jewelry was noticed by folks besides the locals, and by the 1920s, a demand was growing outside the Southwest, for this work -- even among the wealthy American families back East!
Zuni -- The cost of a Horse or Two
During this time, a story was told of an enterprising Navajo herdsman and silversmith who had moved to Zuni Pueblo. His name had been listed on the earlier Spanish enrollment documents as Herrero, or "Iron worker". The Zunis always loved turquoise, and when they could get it, silver jewelry, but, as a conservative people, they never wanted to pay too much for it. The Navajo herdsman soon developed a steady market in jewelry in Zuni. On feast days, no self-respecting Zuni would want to appear in public not dressed up, and dressed up began to mean: with silver and turquoise jewelry. The Zuni upon whose land the Navajo lived, began to ask questions about how the jewelry was made, and of course, the Navajo demurred. This went on for quite some time, until finally, so perturbed by the incessant Zuni questions, he offered to teach the man the art --- but, it was going to cost him. The cost was two horses -- an exhorbitant amount! Plus, the Zuni would not be allowed to leave his home while he was being tutored -- the Navajo swore him to secrecy, and so the long, months of lessons began.
After the Navajo was sure the Zuni knew the art as well as he could teach it, he had become used to an easier life. Having an assistant was a good thing, plus he had more jewelry to sell! He started believing that the lessons could go on forever. The Zuni, on the other hand, was no fool. He saw that this was beginning to get repetitious, so he began to ask when the lessons would be over. Each morning, he would ask, after the morning meal, and each morning, the Navajo, wiping his greedy mouth, would reply, "maybe tomorrow". After some months, the Zuni had had enough. Sure that he had learned all he could from the Navajo, he had his wife prepare a heavy meal of beans and sheep stew. Very richly seasoned, with thick gravy, the Navajo ate and ate, but soon began to feel drowsy, and fell into a deep sleep. The Zuni and his family, without missing a beat, gathered up all the Navajo's tools, and crept out of the house, joining several of the younger Zuni men near the home. There, protected by a huge rock outcropping, the older Zuni began passing on the Navajo's lessons.
Each morning, the tools would be returned to their place by the fire, and the Navajo would rise to find nothing amiss. By the winter, the Navajo missed his home in the red rocks country, away to the North, and one morning, pronounced the lessons over, handing the Zuni student a hammer and a pair of tongs as a gift. His last words, mounting the first of his now two horses as he gathered up his possessions to leave was to "guard this craft away from other's eyes -- it will provide for you your whole life" The Zuni family thanked him, and waved goodbye, waiting a few moments before breaking out in laughter. How different it would be when the Navajo returned! As a result, there were now a dozen young Zuni men who could work silver, and more and more were learning. The old Zuni turned the hammer and tongs over in his hand, and walking over to his own small pallet near the fire, lifted it up, and added the two, poorly made tools to the sizable set of finely made jeweler's tools he had his children bring him back from Gallup, NM -- the railroad stop to the North. By the time we started trading, in the mid 1980s, there were about 12000 Zunis living at the Pueblo and the outlying communities, but every single family had at least a couple of very accomplished silversmiths. Not too bad for a pair of horses!
This is continued in Guide: A History of Southwestern Indian Jewelry Part 2
The above is original work and may not be re-used, copied or reprinted off Ebay without permission
(c)2007, R.Sutton for Kiva Corporation
After the Navajo was sure the Zuni knew the art as well as he could teach it, he had become used to an easier life. Having an assistant was a good thing, plus he had more jewelry to sell! He started believing that the lessons could go on forever. The Zuni, on the other hand, was no fool. He saw that this was beginning to get repetitious, so he began to ask when the lessons would be over. Each morning, he would ask, after the morning meal, and each morning, the Navajo, wiping his greedy mouth, would reply, "maybe tomorrow". After some months, the Zuni had had enough. Sure that he had learned all he could from the Navajo, he had his wife prepare a heavy meal of beans and sheep stew. Very richly seasoned, with thick gravy, the Navajo ate and ate, but soon began to feel drowsy, and fell into a deep sleep. The Zuni and his family, without missing a beat, gathered up all the Navajo's tools, and crept out of the house, joining several of the younger Zuni men near the home. There, protected by a huge rock outcropping, the older Zuni began passing on the Navajo's lessons.
Each morning, the tools would be returned to their place by the fire, and the Navajo would rise to find nothing amiss. By the winter, the Navajo missed his home in the red rocks country, away to the North, and one morning, pronounced the lessons over, handing the Zuni student a hammer and a pair of tongs as a gift. His last words, mounting the first of his now two horses as he gathered up his possessions to leave was to "guard this craft away from other's eyes -- it will provide for you your whole life" The Zuni family thanked him, and waved goodbye, waiting a few moments before breaking out in laughter. How different it would be when the Navajo returned! As a result, there were now a dozen young Zuni men who could work silver, and more and more were learning. The old Zuni turned the hammer and tongs over in his hand, and walking over to his own small pallet near the fire, lifted it up, and added the two, poorly made tools to the sizable set of finely made jeweler's tools he had his children bring him back from Gallup, NM -- the railroad stop to the North. By the time we started trading, in the mid 1980s, there were about 12000 Zunis living at the Pueblo and the outlying communities, but every single family had at least a couple of very accomplished silversmiths. Not too bad for a pair of horses!
This is continued in Guide: A History of Southwestern Indian Jewelry Part 2
The above is original work and may not be re-used, copied or reprinted off Ebay without permission
(c)2007, R.Sutton for Kiva Corporation
Guide created: 02/23/07 (updated 07/02/09)
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