Cross Necklace with Silver and Glass Beads [R]

Before the arrival of the Spanish in the Southwest, the various native tribal groups who lived here used the form that is now termed a cross as a design element on both their ceremonial and utilitarian objects. When the Spaniards arrived with their own crosses, the ease with which many Indian people accepted them came not necessarily from an understanding or belief in the foreigners’ religion, but because the shapes of the wooden and metal crosses were recognizable to them as figures that were significant within their own world, a world that revolved around a belief in nature.

The crosses used in the prehistoric period can be seen as the simplest geometric shapes. The intersecting of two lines, with equidistant bars, can be translated into representations of stars and sun, and hence the sky people who brought light to the world. With an extension of the vertical line and a second horizontal cross-bar, the lines can be seen as the dragonfly who brought the rains of summer that allowed plants to grow, therefore allowed all human life.

Rock art, basketry, pottery, textiles, wall paintings, and even some objects of personal adornment were decorated or formed into the shape of the single- or double-bar cross by prehistoric artists. It is not hard to see how a cross with the double bar can be seen to look like a dragonfly as it hovers in the air with outstretched wings. And when the cross is made of silver, light hitting the metal has reflective qualities not unlike the iridescence of a dragonfly’s wings.

The relationship that Indians have seen between the double-bar cross and the dragonfly might also give a native, rather than Christian, meaning to the heart that forms the bottom portion of many crosses made by Indian smiths. A discussion held with an elderly Pueblo man who believed that the double-bar cross represented the dragonfly, suggested a reason for the heart appearing on many of these crosses. “The silversmith always puts a heart at the bottom of his double-bar crosses to show what a generous heart the dragonfly has, and how much he loves the people.” He went on to say “it made the priests happy to see the people wear their crosses, because they thought we were wearing the heart of Jesus.”

This necklace is so typical of those made by and for the Pueblo Indians own use. The hand-made silver beads and crosses were made from ingot silver. The double bar cross was embellished with feather designs on the crossbars and swastika symbols on the upright bar. The addition of glass trade beads to add color is so very pueblo in nature. The ends of the necklace were wrapped with cotton string in what is known as a “pueblo wrap.” It is possible that the necklace is as old as circa 1890-1900.