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Inlay jewelry is arguably the most popular made by Native Americans. Seeing a piece of Native American inlay jewelry, with turquoise and multi-colored gemstones, has always been most enjoyable for me. The precision of the intricate inlay  work is usually quite amazing! The Zuni Tribe, masters of lapidary, began doing inlay work when they were introduced to silversmithing by the Spanish. Their lapidary skills were easily applied to silver, and later gold. Though they were the first of the Native Americans to do inlay work, it was done as far back as the Egyptians. King Tut's famous gold sarcophagus was...

Turquoise is one of the favored materials used in Southwestern Native American jewelry. It has been found in the ancestral Native American sites of Chaco Canyon and is atill popular all these centuries later. Turquoise jewelry made by Native Americans is beautiful, is a good investment, and gives the wearer a special look. Turquoise is usually found in dry climates like those in the southwestern United States, Egypt and Persia. It generally forms near the surface of the Earth to around 200 feet. Conditions have to be just right for turquoise to form, making it rare and highly prized. Native...

Sleeping Beauty turquoise is a unique, beautiful light to medium blue color. It usually has few spider webbing matrix lines. For these reasons it is highly prized and has a special place in the world of turquoise. This turquoise gets its name from a mountain near where it is mined. The mountain looks like a sleeping woman. This turquoise is collected from the Sleeping Beauty mine ,which is near the town of Globe in Arizona.A small group of workers there prepare the stones and ship them. This famous turquoise was discovered by accident while mining for copper and gold. It...

Damale turquoise has an interesting history. This American turquoise is also spelled Damaile or Damele. The name comes from the Damele family who owned the mine. The Damele family raise unique horses at the Dry Creek Ranch outside of Austin, Nevada. In 1973  Benny Damele discovered the Damele mine in this area. It is on the flats before the foothills of a scenic mountain range. This area of east central Nevada has several other well known mines besides the Damale. These include the Carico Lake, Dry Creek and Godmer mines. The Damale mine began to  be mined when Clyde Wright...

Navajo Concho belts are a beautiful form of Native American expression. The idea for them seems to have started as far back as the 18th century. The Southern Plains Indians had an early form of the Concho belt. The Navajo got them from these other Indians and blended them with early Spanish/Mexican designs found on tack such as harness buckles and spurs. The word concho came from the Spanish "concha", which means a seashell. The early belts used this design, but the term has come to include round, oval or rectangle disks. Besides being used for belts, they are used...