Southwestern jewelry handmade by native americans

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Southwestern Jewelry

Many people love southwestern jewelry for its beauty and practicality. Southwestern jewelry is closely associated with Native American Indians. Some archaeologists think that the use of turquoise in jewelry may even date back to prehistoric times; one archaeological dig in Arizona found turquoise that dated back to 200 BC.

Most people think of southwestern jewelry when they see something that contains turquoise because Native Americans frequently used it for personal decoration or for ceremonial purposes. For the most part, turquoise is found in the southwestern United States in mineral deposits. The early turquoise decorations found by archaeologists were very simple, but still show that this stone has been important to Native Americans for centuries. In order to get the turquoise, the Native American Indians would have mined deposits in the area now defined by Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico.

The Navajo have a long and distinguished history of making fine silver and turquoise jewelry. It is believed that the Spanish settlers shared many of their jewelry making techniques with the Navajo during the 16th and 17th centuries. The Spanish settlers taught the Navajo how to make jewelry using silver. The Navajo became such skilled silversmiths that their jewelry today is often of museum quality. The art of silversmithing is handed down from one generation of Navajo to the next. Today, that includes both male and female jewelry designers and artists.

Southwestern jewelry often features natural themes of plants and animals native to the region. There are merchants that sell southwestern jewelry today that is not made by Native American Indians, but by people overseas. If you want to make sure that Native Americans make any pieces you purchase, ask the merchant if the artists making the jewelry are part of the Indian Arts and Crafts Association or some other type of Native American jewelry making association.

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