Native American Earrings Guide

Native American earrings have a long history and tradition. Earrings, along with other body-piercing jewelry, have been around for all recorded time. The Bible makes many references to the earring as both a symbol of idolatry as well as for simple personal adornment. By far the most common understanding of why the earliest peoples wore earrings was to ward off bad spirits from entering through openings in the body, in particular the ear. Native American Indians were no different, believing that wearing earrings added to the body’s inner strength, loaning them healing powers, as well as providing them with the power to keep their enemies away. Although most Native American earrings are today worn as a fashion statement, many still believe in their traditional powers.

The materials used in creating the earliest Native American earrings include animal bone, plant material, and marine shell. Later various metals, such as copper, were introduced into the earring design. Eventually, the precious metal silver became the dominant material used in earrings by Native American Indians. The silver earring design was often complemented by various semi-precious stones like onyx, opal, garnet and turquoise.

Native American Hoop Earrings

Native American hoop earrings come in two varieties: full-hoop and half-hoop. From these two basic hoop styles numerous varieties have been developed. Full-hoop earrings are simple, but make a bold fashion statement. In actuality, they are rings that are fashioned into hoops from plain wire or tubing. The wire hoop style is often worn “as-is” with no additional decoration or ornamentation, whereas tubing hoops, being much stronger in their design, can support beadwork and dangles. Native American half-hoop earrings can be less bold than their full-loop counterparts are, but they are still certainly as equally fashionable. What they lack in size, they make up for in usability. Beautiful semi-precious gems are easily incorporated into Native American half-hoop earrings with inlay and beading techniques. Inlaid stones can be placed on the outer rim of the hoop for a crisp, clean look. Gem dangles or clusters can be attached as well, changing the look to casual and airy yet still a distinctively Native American earrings style.

Native American Wire Earrings

The development and introduction of the wire earring has created enormous design possibilities for Native American earrings designers. Using the wire earring as a base upon which to decorate, an endless variety of designs can be created upon which to decorate. Some Native American Indian designers have chosen to let the base standalone to show its beauty while others have chosen in their designs to hang semi-precious stones to the base, creating a real attention grabber called a “dangle.” Dangles can range from large chandelier pendants to simple beaded clusters. Made of single or multi-colored stones, these unique dangle creations combine to give a free-flowing motion to all Native American earrings pieces, drawing even more attention to the wearer’s face.

Native American Post Earrings

Native American post (or stud) earrings are the simplest in their form but can be some of the most sophisticated earrings in their design. They can easily be made with a dangle attached to them but are traditionally created with a single stone set on a post. Many Native American Indian post earrings styles use the mounting as the main, design focal point, while other designers have the stone itself as the primary attention grabber.