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I wish our current American culture had art as a part of daily life. I’ve always felt this to be true of the Native Americans . Their art is a part of their culture, and from what I have seen, it is pure poetry.

There are a lot of different tribal styles- one of my favorites is the Hopi Indian jewelry . I imagine that this is a skill taught to the young people by elders skilled in the designs, which are reflective of their culture. The jewelry is symbolic, and lovely. I have a ring that represents a cloud formation, but if you didn’t know better, you would think they were waves. Almost surreal, the way things are represented.

What I like personally about the style is the way the antiqued part of the design shows up so well next to the bright and shiny parts. The lines are usually bold and rather thick, giving a wonderful and hard to miss contrast. Most of the patterns or designs are pretty geometric. This is interesting to me, as the land they live on is full of lines, peaks and curves. I’ve seen this a number of times on rings and other pieces of their work.

I think the best place to see Hopi jewelry is right on the reservation in Arizona in one of the quaint shops you’ll find there. If you are really lucky, you will get the meet the artist him/herself! The other reason I like to buy things there is that the money spent goes right to the artist and his family, instead of a small wholesale cut when sold by a dealer.

And it’s worth it to get to meet some of these wonderful people and see what the environment is like that inspired the designs. This is very big country, with endless sky and flat topped mountains everywhere. The land seems a little stark at first but it certainly has its own beauty. I can imagine that it would be hard to live anywhere else after spending time in this overwhelmingly poetic land.

Navajo artisans also create some gorgeous designs. Very different from their Hopi neighbors, but lovely and instantly recognizable as being from their tribe. However in recent years I’ve seen a little crossover from one tribe’s style to another.

I think of the bear paw design as being primarily Navajo in origin. And they make the loveliest belts. They look beautiful surrounding the waist of a Navajo woman in her traditional brightly colored velvet layered skirt. Of course turquoise is an important gemstone used in Navajo jewelry as well. Sterling silver and turquoise are absolutely brilliant together and are what most people think of when they put their attention on Indian Jewelry.

Zuni jewelry is colorful and whimsical, at least to the untrained eye. Undoubtedly there is tribal significance in their designs as well. I don’t own any Zuni jewelry but I’ve often admired it in many Southwestern shops.