15 STRAND SQUAW WRAP TURQUOISE HEISHI NECKLACE 3041-BNK
The popularity of Turquoise has returned in full strength. You can't go wrong with this one. The perfect color of Turquoise. Fifteen strands of hand cut, block Turquoise heishi all joined in a comfortable squaw wrap. Character and unique charm. The turquoise is a blue green with beautiful soft veining. This one is 28" long. This necklace will make the outfit, hands down! One of our best talents is our ability to accessorize ladies...... From the earliest times, we have considered the adornment of our person to be as necessary as food and shelter. We can make anything look rich, vogue and designer without the the high price of the "name". This 28" necklace is all handcut (block turquoise) heishi. A dramatic accessory. There are many legends about Turquoise; The Pima consider it to bring good fortune and strength and that it helped overcome illness. The Zuni believe that blue turquoise was male and of the sky and green turquoise was female and of the earth. Pueblo Indians thought that its color was stolen from the sky. In Hopi legend the lizard who travels between the above and the below, excretes turquoise and that the stone can hold back floods. The Apache felt that turquoise on a gun or bow made it shoot straight. The Navajo consider it as good fortune to wear and believe it could appease the Wind Spirit. The literal meaning of Heishi is "shell" and specifically refers to pieces of shell which have been drilled and ground into beads and then strung into necklaces. More and more frequently, however, heishi (hee-shee) has come to refer to hand-made tiny beads made of any natural material. The origin of heishi is fascinating indeed, and is inescapably linked to the ancient history of the people most proficient in its making, the Santa Domingo Pueblo Indians. It is safe to say that this is the oldest form of jewelry in New Mexico (and perhaps in North American), pre-dating the introduction of metals. Centuries ago, the shells used by the Pueblo Indian to make beads were obtained in trade from the Gulf of California. It will take from 2 days to a week to prepare a single strand of heishi. A string of good heishi will have a uniform consistency. If you gently pull it through your hand, it should feel like a single serpent-like piece. (Note: Precisely because of the handwork involved, a fine string of heishi may contain a lightly flawed or chipped individual bead.) This information is from the Indian Arts & Crafts Association and the Wingspread Communications publishers of the Collector's Guides to Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Taos. |