What are Zuni fetishes?

Zuni fetishes, known to the Shiwi people as "wemawe", are small stone animal carvings that are made by the talented artisans of Zuni Pueblo. Zuni Pueblo is located in the northwest corner of New Mexico, (near the "Four Corners" region of the US of A.)

Zuni fetish carvings are a part of the Zuni religion which is extremely complex.
Perhaps due to their remote location, the Zuni people have been able to retain a great deal of their culture and religion despite being among the most studied Native American people by anthropologists, past and present.

In the Zuni culture, the fetish carvings represent the animal spirit thought to reside in the stone. Initially Zuni fetishes were likely found stones that had the rudimentary shape of an animal. Arrowheads were placed on the stones with a prayer that the hunter's arrow would find its mark and in gratitude for the animal giving its life for the sustenance of the hunter and his family.

The Zunis believe in six sacred directions: Zenith (or sky), North, East, South, West and Nadir (or underworld.) Each of the directions is associated with a color.  The zenith (sky) is associated with multi-color, the north is yellow, east is white, south is red, west is blue and below (nadir) is black.

And each of those directions has an animal associated with it. In a HEALING AND PROTECTIVE DIRECTIONAL SET the animals are as follows:

• 
  Above, Eagle, Multicolored

• 
  North, Mountain Lion, Yellow

• 
  East, Wolf, White

• 
  South, Badger, Red

• 
  West, Bear, Blue

• 
  Below, Mole, Black

A HUNTING DIRECTIONAL SET would be only slightly different.  The bobcat replaces the badger as the southern animal and the coyote replaces the bear of the west as follows:

• 
  Above, Eagle, Multicolored

• 
  North, Mountain Lion, Yellow

• 
  East, Wolf, White

• 
  South, Bobcat, Red

• 
  West, Coyote, Blue

• 
  Below, Mole, Black

Additionally, there is a familial relationship between each of the animals. The Mountain lion is considered the elder brother of the bear who is the elder of the badger, considered elder to the wolf, who is elder to the eagle, who is elder to the mole.

Likewise, you may have a directional set of only mountain lions (or bears, or wolves, etc.) Each animal must be of the appropriate color:

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  Above,  Multicolored:  Picasso marble or rainbow calsilica

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  North, Yellow:    amber, yellow calcite or dolomite

• 
  East, White:  white marble, alabaster or selenite

• 
  South,  Red:  pipestone, red coral, dolomite, travertine

• 
  West,  Blue:  turquoise, lapis, azurite

• 
  Below, Black:  jet or black marble

Other tribes use (and make) fetishes but the Zunis are particularly known for their fetishes. A revival, of sorts, occurred in the late 1980's when an article appeared in the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The number of Zuni fetish carvers dramatically increased at that time and the introduction of power hand tools made the detail and realism of contemporary carvings possible.

This is, of course, just the briefest explanation of Zuni fetishes. If you want to know more, there are a number of books that discuss Zuni fetishes, their meanings and the families who carve them. We heartily recommend any of the books by Kent McManis as valuable references on the subject.

zunispirits.com