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The Navajo people have been making jewelry for many years. Before the Navajo people were introduced to incorporating silver into their jewelry; their wares consisted mainly of beads, shells and animal parts. Atsidi Sani is known as the "father" or "first" Navajo silversmith. Taught by a Mexican silversmith they called Nakai Tsosi, Sani actually began his craft by blacksmithing and working with iron. Most of his silversmithing was done between 1860 and 1890, where he mastered the craft using silv

The use of the peace pipe was held sacred by Indians. Usually it was used in ceremonies of religious, political, or social nature. The decorations on the pipe's bowl and stem, and even the method of holding or passing the pipe on to the next person, held great ceremonial significance. The pipe was never laid on the ground. To smoke it was a signal that the smoker gave his pledge of honor. It is also believed that the smoke made one think clearly and endowed him with great wisdom. In a treaty cer

....And so you will say, "Ah yes, a kachina is a masked character but who is he, what is he, and what is the big significance?" A Hopi Indian will tell you that a kachina is a supernatural being who is impersonated by a man wearing a mask, and he wil add that the kachinas live on the San Francisco Peaks, near flagstaff, Arizona and on other high mountains. A kachina has three aspects; the supernatural being as he exists in the minds of the Hopis; the masked impersonator of the supernatural being

In the Snake myth it is narrated the the chiefs son wondered what became of all the water in the Grand Canyon. So he went to investigate. After several adventure he encountered the goddess of hard substances who gave him a sack filled with all sorts of beads, among them turquoise. Upon his departure he was warned not to open the package until home was reached. The journey lasted several days, and each morning he found that the number of beads had increased. Finally the package became filled, and

Ever since J Walter Fewkes, of the Smithsonian Institution, wrote his first illustrated report on Hopi Kachinas, in 1894, a growing number of people have become interested in the Hopi Indians and their delightful carved and painted kachina dolls. For years collectors have treasured these small representations of Hopi supernatural beings without being able to learn much about them. In northern parts of New Mexico and Arizona are a number of compact Indian villages with flat roofed houses built of