News

Pete Sierra is a Navajo artist who was a student of the famous Hopi artist Charles Loloma. Charles Loloma had hundreds of students, but Pete Sierra stands out among them. Pete Sierra was able to fashion something new with his silver inlay and high cobblestone turquoise jewelry. This was no small feat coming from the extraordinary amount of wonderful works that came from Charles Loloma. Yes, Pete certainly made  his teacher proud! To understand Pete Sierra, it perhaps is good to first look at Charles Loloma. Loloma came from a family of various types of Native American artists such as...

Navajo coral jewelry is highly prized. For the Navajo the four subterranean worlds are influenced by four precious metals:turquoise, white shell, red stone(yolici) and abalone. Yolici, "red pearls",is what the Navajo call coral. The coral is used by the Navajo primarily for ornamentation and not for ceremonies. Red is generally taboo in Navajo ceremonies, but the fact remains that Navajo coral jewelry is highly valued around the world, and among the Navajo. Marine coral includes several species. Coral looks like hardened tubes or branches. It is composed of hard calcium carbonate. The skeletons of coral form reefs in the Mediterranean...

Gibson Nez was a person who tried to do whatever he did well. Gibson Nez was a Jicarilla Apache-Navajo jeweler whose work was among the best in the world of Native American jewelry. Gibson Nez greatly  focused on whatever he was doing, and as we shall see excelled in more than one area. He was influenced by the best jewelers, and became one of them. He will long be and example in how to live life well. Gibson Nez was born May 16th, 1947. He became active as a silversmith in 1976 and worked at his art for three decades,...

Navajo ketoh (pronounced gato) are works of Native American jewelers that really grab attention. The ketoh is a bowstring guard, originally worn on the wrist to protect it from the "snap" of the bowstring. Any archer knows they are necessary, even for the best archers, to protect from the occasional contact between the bowstring and the inside of the area that is holding the bow. Navajo ketoh can be made to cover the inner arm (partial arm guards) or the wrist (wrist guard). Today the Navajo Ketoh are used for ornamentation more than for practical archer's equipment. When shooting a...

Navajo coin silver jewelry is the jewelry made when the Navajo first began making silver jewelry in the late 19th century. The Navajo got silver coins from the U.S. Calvary and the trading posts. The Navajo melted them down into ingots and other silver forms. They then would hand forge or hammer the silver into jewelry such as bracelets, hatbands, and "ketohs" or wrist bow guards. Navajo coin silver jewelry often had some faint residual impressions from the coin design. Navajo coin silver jewelry is very collectable and has a beauty of its own. The Navajo coin silver jewelry was...