This Navajo-made bracelet was formed from ingot silver.  Three strips of silver expand outward from the ends of the bracelet and a large oval Morenci turquoise stone sits on the center.  Stamped designs of traditional Navajo style cover all the exposed silver foundation.  Repoussé leaves flank the stone.

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This Navajo bracelet was made from heavy ingot silver.  There are three silver bars that are spread apart except for being joined at the ends of the bracelet.  Mounted on top of the split portion of the silver bars is a flat sheet of silver on which are mounted the essences of the bracelet-beautiful blue Burnham turquoise from Nevada.  The bracelet dates to circa 1940s.

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This painting depicts male and female deities of the Diné.  It may seem out of place for a pueblo artist to paint subjects of the Diné culture but it is an accepted practice.  The Native religions are similar even in their differences.  Paintings of Katsinas and paintings of Yei are both depicting Native supernatural deities.  Both Helen and her mother, Pablita Velarde, painted Yei deities on rare occasions.

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Robert Daughters (1929-2013) specialized in painting landscapes and people of Northern New Mexico, Arizona and Mexico. At the time, he lived in Taos, New Mexico, in a house built by Oscar E. Berninghaus. Daughters was a co-founder of the group of artists known as the Taos Six. The others with him in this group were Walt Gonske, Rod Gobels, Ron Bursano, Ray Vinalla and Julian Robles.

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Cochiti Pueblo potters are recognized as the 20th century's most adept potters at making humorous figurines, whether they are of people or animals. This Koosa clown has a large nose, big eyes, wide open mouth and is holding his arms up in the air. The cornhusks on top of his head represent his hair.

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   Persingula Gachupin was the matriarch of a family of outstanding potters. She was the mother of Marie Romero and grandmother of Maxine Toya-both of whom were exceptional potters. She always used traditional clay and materials in her work. She, along with her daughter Marie Romero, were among the first potters at Jemez Pueblo to make storytellers and nacimientos.

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Louis and Virginia Naranjo started making these wall mounted fonts in the 1980s and said they were used by pueblo residents for sacred corn meal and by others for holy water or even business cards.  It can either be hung from a nail using the leather strap or more securely by attaching more permanently to the wall with screws.

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Small animal beaded items such as this lizard were traditionally made by a number of Native tribes to be used as repositories for the umbilical cord of the newborn, as a measure of health and luck. They were hung from the cradle board and, later, worn by the child or attached to its clothing.  It was an amulet for protection and was kept throughout life.  Normally, a long incision was made on the underside of the fetish so that the cord could be inserted.  This one does not have an incision so it is doubtful that it was made for that use.

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I am not familiar with moccasins or with beadwork but I was told by an Indian dealer that these were most likely Southern Cheyenne, so I accept his analysis.  The soles show wear patterns.  I do not know the age of the moccasins but they were estimated to date to circa 1910.

The Cheyenne (Tsitsistas/The People) were once agrarian, or agricultural, people located near the Great Lakes in present-day Minnesota. The Cheyenne language is a unique branch of the Algonquian language family.

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Sometime in the history of Native American jewelry from the Southwest, someone named a necklace, such as this one, a squash blossom necklace.  Technically, the blossoms attached to the necklace were originally derived from the pomegranate.  The area with the small turquoise cabs that looks like a blossom and the silver protrusions were copied from silver pomegranate blossoms seen on the trousers of the vaquero from Spain and Mexico.  Regardless of the name, these have been among the most popular Native necklaces for decades, certainly as early as pre-World War II.

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   Eddie Beyuka (1920-2002) is best known for his bola - bolo ties and standing figures of Katsinas and dancers executed in channel inlay with a variety of materials-generally turquoise, mother of pearl, jet, coral, and others-skillfully integrated in his famous creations.

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   Zuni lapidary artisan Eddie Beyuka was recognized as one of the most creative in designing and executing bola - bolo tie imagery.  This roadrunner design is an excellent example of an artisan exceeding the norm in effort.  The variety of stones chosen by Beyuka enhances the roadrunner well beyond what most artisans would have done.  The wing feathers and tail feathers are an amazing layout of many colors and many stones and shells that achieve a beautiful colorful bird.  The piece is stamped with the initials EAB and ZUNI.

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This older katsina doll, probably from the 1930s or early 1940s, represents a Chakwaina Katsina but I have been told that in this configuration, he is known as Hewto. 

Chakwaina appears most often in January during the Kiva Dances, dancing in a line with lively gestures, stooping and turning and singing a spirited tune.

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This carving of the Hopi Hemis Katsina is entirely from cottonwood root.  It appears that the body is from a single root, with the tableta, foxtail, arms and sash added to the basic.  It is signed with the name Via Harvey but I have not located a Hopi by that name, the closest I found is Vina Harvey.

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The Hopi Tuskiapaya Katsina, is called the Crazy Rattle Katsina, and is a variant of the Sikyachantaka Katsina, which is a very old Hopi Katsina.  It is said that a long time ago when the Hopis were having a famine and the Spanish had driven off their sheep, they decided to have a katsina dance.  At that time, Sikyachantaka did not have a name but one man in the village had a cow, and he killed the animal and fed these katsinas the entrails of the cow.  Hence their name, "holding entrails in the mouth." 

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It is not unusual for early- to mid-20^th century pottery not to have the name of the potter included.  Many Acoma Pueblo potters did not sign their work until after the 1950s.  Sometimes it is possible to take a stab at which potter made a particular item but most often it is no more than a guess.

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The Hopi Salakotaka and Salakomana appear as a pair and they tower eight or more feet tall.  They are tall and slender and without arms.  They move in a graceful manner and dip as they move slowly.  They are referred to as sister and brother.  When dancing, they are always accompanied by Hahai-i-Wuhti and the Tukwinong Katsinas.  The male and female are distinguished by the color of their moccasins-turquoise for the male and white for the female.  Both male and female have a rainbow chin and multiple turquoise necklaces.

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Inez, as she now signs her pottery, is a daughter of Seferina Ortiz, sister of Virgil Ortiz and mother of Lisa Holt.  She has remained with traditional designs and shapes, much like her mother, and unlike that of Virgil and Lisa.

This miniature female storyteller figurine is wearing the hair style of a Hopi maiden, called a whorl hair style.

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   Maria and Julian had four sons: Adam (born 1903), John (born 1915), Popovi Da (born 1922), and Philip (born 1925).  Adam's wife was Santana and it was she who worked with Maria following the death of Julian in 1943.  Santana and Adam also collaborated on pottery.  Santana made the pottery and Adam painted the designs.  Adam also did the firing of their pottery.  Adam surely was the one who gathered the clay for Santana and she most likely did all the clay processing.

This San Ildefonso Pueblo jar is one of the most beautiful of those I have seen by Santana and Adam..

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   Maria and Julian had four sons, Adam being the oldest. Adam's wife was Santana and it was she who worked with Maria following the death of Julian in 1943.  There are two periods of pottery that were collaborated by Maria and Santana.  The earlier ones were signed Marie & Santana and that period lasted from Julian's death in 1943 until 1956, at which time Popovi Da replaced Santana and helped his mom.  Maria did not immediately stop working with Santana when she began working with Popovi but did continue on and off for a few more years.  Those pieces are signed Maria & Santana.

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