Zuni Jewelry Guide

Overview of Zuni Jewelry

Zuni jewelry, like that of other southwestern Native American Indian tribes, is highly regarded for its elaborate and skilled combination of silver and stone lapidary work. It has been documented that the Navajo introduced advanced silversmith techniques to the Zuni people, as well as introducing them to the basics of stone inlay work. While contemporary Navajo jewelry is best known for its skilled silverwork, Zuni jewelry is widely renowned for the expertise and intricacy of the stone inlay work into their pieces.

As a generalization, Zuni jewelry artisans focus primarily on the stones and regard the silver as the canvas in which they inlay ornate designs with various stones, including turquoise, jet, and coral. This is reflected in how little stamping, or die work, is done in Zuni jewelry, as opposed to their Navajo brethren that focus more artistically on the silver component of the jewelry. Zuni artisans direct their focus primarily on the elaborate designs of their inlay work, developing jewelry pieces that revolve around the creation of stone clusters or mosaics, giving Zuni jewelry is own type of jewelry design trademark.

Zuni Fetish Jewelry

The Zuni Indians are also widely known for the creation of their beautiful fetishes. Fetishes are intricately carved objects, most often representing an animal or sacred god of the tribe. Although other tribes produce fetishes, the Zuni are widely regarded for their high level of craftsmanship in the creation of their fetishes, many having extremely detailed and intricate carved designs. In addition to the familiar fetish dolls, the Zuni also incorporate fetish designs into their jewelry. One very popular style in this group of Zuni jewelry is the necklace fetish, carved from both precious and semi-precious stone. Fetish necklaces primarily use a simple one-strand design, although it is not uncommon to see some with as many as a dozen strands, and most often feature an animal fetish constructed of various stones.

Zuni Indians - Early History

The Zuni tribe of New Mexico is probably best known as the Native American people who were encountered by Spanish explorers, or conquistadors, in the early-to-mid 1500s, while searching for the mythological "seven cities of gold." What the Spaniards found were a people steeped in ritual and advanced in arts of exquisite craftsmanship.

Also believed to be descendants of the pre-historic Anasazi civilization, as is believed are most of the other tribes from this region, the Zuni are merely one of several tribes that create the larger Pueblo Indian Nation. Although historically related to the surrounding Navajo, Hopi, and other Pueblo tribes, they speak a language unique of their own.