The Turquoise Trail: Native American Jewelry and Culture of the Southwest [SOLD]

This multicultural offering centers on a sacred stone that has been used for centuries to adorn ritual objects and is still considered a cherished possession by Native Americans and Mexican Indians. Production of turquoise jewelry is a vibrant cottage industry in the Southwest, where members of the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Pueblo, and other nations use modern techniques to create a dazzling range of styles, motifs, and images, many of which hark back to prehistoric myths and traditional clan symbols.

More than 140 stunning color photographs by Jeffrey Jay Foxx show turquoise jewelry in the context in which it is worn and used today. Images include Native American ritual, daily life, powwows, rodeos, portraits, landscape, and ruins of the Southwest, as well a diverse array of fine turquoise, inlaid, mosaic, and beaded jewelry made by members of indigenous nations and tribes over the last fifty years.

Carol Karasik's text, a narrative journey that crosses time and space, describes the landscape of the ancient turquoise trade routes and affirms the inextinguishable vitality of ancient traditions. By tracing the route of the sacred stone between ancient Mexican civilizations and what is now the American Southwest, she reveals a pathway to the understanding of the interrelations among pre-Columbian peoples. She draws fascinating parallels in myth, religion, and ceremony between the Pueblos and the Mesoamericans, pointing out the many shared graphic images found on jewelry, pots, and other artifacts throughout Americas