Maker’s Marks

All items offered for sale have a maker’s mark. Artisans can point out these distinctive “signatures” that enable the identification of artists’ works. It is important to know the name or maker’s mark of an artist or craftsperson especially if you wish to contact them in the future as the assignment of spaces under the portal changes daily.

Metalwork

Diné, or Navajo peoples, learned metalsmithing while incarcerated by the United States government at Bosque Redondo, New Mexico (1863-1868). They were the first Native people in the American Southwest to learn this skill. However, by the turn of the 19th century, the craft had spread to Zuni, Hopi, and the Rio Grande Pueblos. The earliest metal used was fashioned from coin silver.

Today, program participants make jewelry of silver, gold, copper, and brass. All silver used is sterling—that is, 92.5% pure. Silver-plate over base metals and nickel alloy may not be sold under the portal. Gold is becoming increasingly common in Native American jewelry. Program rules permit gold, gold-fill (12KGF or 14KGF) and gold overlay.

Many jewelers get their start working with brass which can also provide buyers with a less expensive option. Some jewelers cut and shape the stones they use in their work; others use pre-shaped, polished stones, called “cabs” – short for cabochons. Certain types of attachments, called “findings” are also used in the making of metal jewelry.

Stones, Shells, and Beads

Turquoise, the most common stone under the portal, has been used for millennia by southwestern Native Americans for adornment, as a trade item, and for ceremonial purposes. It comes in various forms and many grades of quality. Natural turquoise is unaltered except for shaping and polishing. It is most often set in metal jewelry. Stabilized turquoise is a genuine stone hardened with resin to make breakage less likely. The sale of reconstituted turquoise, a combination of turquoise dust and plastic, is prohibited under the portal.

Native American jewelers have incorporated many materials into their work that include a variety of shells and stones commonly found in pieces sold under the portal. These include but are not limited to mother-of-pearl, spiny oyster shell, olive shells, clam shell, melon shell, coral, jet, lapis, jasper, agate, hematite, sugilite, serpentine, black onyx, pipestone, and malachite.

If you have questions about the materials, ask the artisans. They can identify the materials and inform you of its origins and how it was used in their work.

Heishi (he-she) are often made into necklaces of delicate, disk-shaped shell beads. They are made primarily by Santo Domingo artisans who are renowned for this type of work. The heishi sold under the portal are cut, drilled, and ground by hand. This is a painstaking process and a single necklace may require the fashioning of hundreds of tiny beads.
Glass trade beads, introduced to the region as a trade item, have been used in the adornment of objects by Native Americans since the early 19th century.