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Native American Art Navajo jewelry history - page 1 of 3

Silversmithing has been a part of Native American culture to present times. A chief named Atsidi Sani is generally credited with bringing silversmithing to the Navajos. Also known as Herrero Delgado "Thin Smith" and Beshiltheeni "Metal Worker" or "Knife Maker", he is believed to have learned the craft from plateros (Mexican silversmiths) in the 1850s in the valley of the upper Rio Grande, now New Mexico; during a break in the war between the Navajos and the Mexicans. He began making silver pieces such as bridles, knives and jewelry and passed along his skills to four sons who were already skilled in metalworking.

Before the Navajo developed a reputation as silversmiths, they raided and traded with the Spanish. Spanish silver ornaments acquired through battle or trade, such as crosses and rings, were confiscated and worn as symbols of prowess and wealth. The Navajo also fashioned beads from Spanish-Mexican trouser and jacket ornaments. Early Navajo silversmiths commonly melted Mexican and U.S. coins for their silver, and the practice persisted in spite of laws forbidding the "defacement" of U.S. currency. Sterling silver candlesticks or tea pots also served as silver sources when coins were not available. The early Navajo silver work concentrated on concha belts, bracelets, bow guards, tobacco flasks and necklaces. Rings, earrings, pins, hair ornaments, buckles and bolos evolved from these, and a full line of silver jewelry existed throughout the reservation by the 1880s.

The Navajo passed along their silversmithing skills to the Zuni, and then the Hopi. Each group incorporating their own tribal styles.

Turquoise, the robin's egg blue gemstone worn by Pharaohs and Aztec Kings, is probably one of the oldest gemstones known. Yet, only its prized blue color, a color so distinctive that its name is used to describe any color that resembles it, results in its being used as a gemstone. Turquoise has been, since about 200 B.C., extensively used by both southwestern U.S. Native Americans and by many of the Indian tribes in Mexico. The Native American jewelry or "Indian style" jewelry with turquoise mounted in or with silver is relatively new. Some believe this style of jewelry was unknown prior to about 1880, when a white trader persuaded a Navajo craftsman to make turquoise and silver jewelry using coin silver. Prior to this time, the Native Americans had made solid turquoise beads, carvings, and inlaid mosaics. Recently, turquoise has found wide acceptance among people of all walks of life and from many different ethnic groups.

The name turquoise may have come from the word Turquie, French for Turkey, because of the early belief that the mineral came from that country. The turquoise most likely came from Alimersai Mountain in Persia, now Iran, or the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt; two of the world's oldest known turquoise mining areas. Another possibility could be the name came from the French description of the gemstone, "pierre turquin" meaning dark blue stone.

Chemically, a hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminum, turquoise is formed by the percolation of meteoric or groundwater through aluminous rock in the presence of copper. For this reason, it is often associated with copper deposits as a secondary mineral, most often in copper deposits in arid, semiarid, or desert environments.

Native American art Navajo silversmithing history - page 2

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