Spanish explorers arrived in the American Southwest in 1540, lured by reports of gold, but not finding any, the Spanish did not settle there until 1598. In due course the Spanish seized the turquoise mines that the native Pueblo peoples had been mining from approximately A.D. 1300. The Spanish introduced metal mining and smithing tools, along with other iron, silver, tin and copper objects and materials that the native population (the Navajos in particular) could rework for their own purposes.

Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821, which brought the Southwest under Mexican control. The United States declared war on Mexico in 1847 and took possession of the northern half of Mexico’s territory in North America. From that time on there was continual warfare and active expeditions into the interior of the Navajo homeland by American troops until the final campaign of 1863-1864.

As a means of gaining a foothold into Navajo country, Fort Defiance was established in 1853. The historian Arthur Woodward believes that this was the time that silver and iron working took hold in Navajo country. The man who is indicated as being the first silversmith was Atsidi Sani (the Old Smith), who acquired his knowledge of silversmithing between 1853 and 1858, from a Mexican.

After the Civil War the art of working silver spread and by the 1880s native Navajo craftsmen steadily refined their skills. The original forms of silverware manufactured by the Navajo were relatively simple. Interestingly, the design elements we still see today as Navajo patterns produced by stamping have their roots in the dies used in tooling Mexican leatherwork.

When gold was discovered in California in 1849, the rush was on, and by the 1870’s miners had also found large deposits of copper, lead, silver, and turquoise. In the early 1880’s, with the arrival of the trans-continental railroad, interest in authentic, handcrafted silver Indian jewelry took hold. It was a this time that artisans in Zuni, the Rio Grande pueblos, and in Navajo country began to set turquoise in their jewelry.

After World War II, the population in the Southwest exploded, and so did tourism to the region. Interest in, and demand for, turquoise Indian jewelry expanded exponentially. The federal government even established programs to teach the jewelry making trade to budding Native American artisans.

Quantities of turquoise objects found in burial sites dating back to A.D. 300 throughout the American Southwest confirm that turquoise has been spiritually, decoratively, and economically significant to ancestral pueblo people as well as their descendants today. Turquoise, the “sky stone� is an ancient talisman for health and happiness. The Navajos believe turquoise jewelry will bring good fortune to the wearer. The Zuni associate blue turquoise with Father sky and green turquoise with Mother Earth. Apache hunters and warriors wore turquoise as protection against enemies, and the Pima carried turquoise to ward off illness. Today we wear turquoise not only because of its beauty, but because it represents the beauty of the great American Southwest and its talented native artisans.

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