General Native American Silversmithing History
Western
Silver Information | Glossary
of Jewelry Terms
Despite their inherent love of ornamentation and jewelry, the Indians
of the Southwest did not learn to work with silver until the latter
part of the 19th century. Before that they acquired the few silver
ornaments they owned through trade with Hispanic settlers and neighboring
Plains Indians. The Plains people had acquired their silver in trade
with English, French and American trappers.
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One of the first native metalsmiths was a Navajo known as Atsidi
Sani who learned, around 1850, to form black metal from a Mexican
blacksmith living in the New Mexico territory. In 1853, Indian agent
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Henry Dodge moved to a house near Fort Defiance and married a Navajo
woman. Dodge brought with him a blacksmith and a Mexican silversmith.
Years later, after the Navajos were released from their five-year
confinement at Fort Sumner, (Bosque Redondo), Atsidi Sani came to
the Indian agency to observe the two smiths at work and refine his
primitive metalworking skills.
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Atsidi Sani taught his four sons to craft silver and they, in turn,
taught others. Later, in the 1880s, J.L. Hubbell hired several Mexican
silversmiths to teach the craft to Navajos at his trading post in
Ganado, Arizona. The Navajos learned to cast silver in sandstone
or tufa as well as produce hand-hammered work. Turquoise, a traditional
favorite of the Navajos, began to be combined with silverwork in
the 1880s.
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J.L. Hubbell capitalized on its popularity by importing Persian
turquoise for trade to the Navajos. Eventually, the local supply
of turquoise increased as more mines were opened.
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Originally, Navajos made silver jewelry for themselves or for other
Indians. After 1900, they began to create jewelry for commercial
consumption as well. The availability of turquoise and silver, together
with better silver working tools, enabled craftsmen to supply the
growing market among Indian traders and tourists who were arriving
in droves by railroad to visit the Southwest. The entry of women
into the craft was another measure of its rapid commercialization.
Although silversmithing had been practiced only by men, Navajo women
had begun working the metal by 1918.
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American coins were the primary source of silver for jewelry until
1890, after which defacing a U.S. coin was outlawed. Mexican pesos
were substituted until 1930 when their export to the American Southwest
was forbidden. Sterling silver ingots with a slightly purer silver
content replaced the coins. In the 1930s, sterling silver in convenient
sheets and wire forms became increasingly available from Indian
traders. Today, the majority of Indian jewelry is still made using
sheet and wire.
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Metalworking had a different history among the Zuni. In about 1830,
the Zuni learned to work with copper and brass salvaged from old
kettles. They did not begin silver crafting until four decades later.
Around 1872, the Navajo smith Atsidi Chon, who traded frequently
with the Zuni for livestock, taught a Zuni blacksmith named Lanyade
the skill of silversmithing. Much of the earliest Zuni silver jewelry
was essentially identical to Navajo work.
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Early Zuni pieces were plain, hand-wrought silver occasionally decorated
with simple die-stamping or rocker engraving. Around 1890 they began
to include turquoise in their work, as had their Navajo neighbors.
Until about 1920, the Zuni fashioned jewelry primarily for themselves
and other native peoples. By 1930, the Zuni were creating much of
their jewelry for tourists. Within ten years, jewelry making had
become a major source or revenue.
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The emphasis on small stone work and inlay work began to emerge
in the 1920s, developing partly from a revival of prehistoric designs.
Today, this style of jewelry, needlepoint, petit point, and inlay
is most strongly associated with the Zuni jewelry making tradition.
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Hopi silverwork is of a more recent vintage than Navajo or Zuni.
Early Hopi jewelry was made from natural materials, turquoise, shell,
wood, and seeds. Silver working was introduced to the Hopi around
1890 when the Zuni smith Lanyard began to trade some of his silver
jewelry among the Hopi, apparently in return for hand-woven native
cotton textiles.
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Lanyade eventually taught his craft to a Hopi named Sikyatala. Early
handwrought silver beads, rings, and bracelets made by the Hopi
are virtually indistinguishable from those made by Zuni and Navajo
smiths. Some Hopi created cast silverwork, as well. But it was not
until the 1930s that a distinctive Hopi style emerged, and it developed
only with non-native encouragement.
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In 1938 Dr. Harold Colton and his wife Mary Russell Colton of the
Museum of Northern Arizona initiated a project encouraging Hopi
silversmiths to create a unique type of jewelry that would be instantly
recognized as Hopi.
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The result, silver overlay, is today the most widely recognized
type of Hopi silverwork. Using designs drawn from traditional pottery,
textiles and baskets, Hopi smiths soldered together two sheets of
silver after cutting out designs in the top layer so that the under
layer is visible. The under layer is blackened or oxidized and usually
textured with chisel marks or stamp work. Turquoise, coral, and
other materials occasionally have been set in Hopi overlay jewelry,
but for the most part, the elegant silver overlay has stood alone.
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Through the 20th century, Southwestern Indian jewelry gradually
diverged into clearly recognizable styles associated with Navajo,
Zuni, Hopi and Rio Grande pueblos. Today, these distinctions have
again begun to blur as native artisans, inspired by pioneering artists
like Charles Loloma, James Little, Lee Yazzie and Preston Monongye,
redefine the tradition and move toward a contemporary, more universal
style of 'new Indian' jewelry.
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