Maribel McLelland owns and operates this large retail spot specializing in Native American jewelry & Southwestern pottery, crafts & gifts from reservations. Together with her husband Keith, they travel frequently to purchase pieces for their Ally Village brick-and-mortar location.
The shop features Texas’ most extensive collection of Navajo jewelry, Pueblo pottery, and Zuni fetishes–animal carvings that connect humans to nature.
Authentic Native American Jewelry
Many Native American artists specialize in handcrafted products like pottery, basket weavings, rugs, sculptures, and jewelry – everything from pottery and basket weavings to rugs, sculptures, and jewelry! At Gallup’s top trading posts, there’s sure to be something suitable for every taste, such as an authentic Navajo silver bracelet or Zuni fetish carving – you will find what you are searching for!
Navajo silver jewelry has long been an integral part of their culture, as the tribes believe that donning ornaments helps attract the gods’ favor and bring good luck into their lives. Both men and women adorned themselves with jewelry made from turquoise, black onyx, red spiny oyster shell, jet, or mother-of-pearl stones – these were worn by both men and women alike!
Turquoise is the go-to stone in Native American jewelry designs, but other colors have also been utilized. Jewelers employ traditional techniques to produce pieces with modern contemporary, or more traditional styles that reflect tribal heritage. When purchasing Southwest jewelry pieces, you are helping support local artisans and their families.
Navajo and Zuni rings may make the ideal present if you are searching for something special to give someone particular this holiday season. Crafted of sterling silver with beautiful turquoise coral and shell designs, these enchanting rings will surely bring smiles. Be sure to visit the online store to view various ring styles that will please anyone on your list.
Turquoise Trading Post, established in 1994 as a family-run business, prides itself on offering authentic Native American jewelry from Navajo, Zuni, Hopi, and Santo Domingo cultures and pottery and kachinas from all these cultures at affordable prices. Their owner Jim Williamson focuses on finding only top-quality pieces.
Pueblo Pottery
Pottery has an integral place in Pueblo culture. From its clay construction and paint decoration to its vessels and a sacred relationship with Mother Earth – it forms part of our holy fabric! Many potters refer to themselves as children of Mother Earth when creating new pieces – making prayerful gestures.
Women typically took on the responsibility of producing and decorating pottery vessels, often teaching their daughters from mothers or grandmothers. Men would also learn the art of pottery making within Pueblo villages; these men became “adolescent potters.” Traditionally, hand-coiled clay was used to form pots; this labor-intensive method required building each coil by hand before joining it into one complete structure – slow and laborious but ultimately more durable and beautiful than any other method used during construction.
The final steps in creating pottery involved painting it with either organic or synthetic paints applied using brushes made from natural fibers like yucca. Fine lines across this jar were likely painted using one such brush; many Pueblo potters still use yucca brushes today when painting their pots with natural designs, including mountains, raindrops, and birds.
Modern pottery requires multiple firings for optimal results; Pueblo pottery, however, only needed one shot to preserve an artist’s work and ensure it would not crack as it dried. Although many pueblo potters now utilize kilns to expedite drying times more rapidly, others still prefer firing their pottery in its open manner. When purchasing pueblo pottery at Indian Market, buyers must look out for any label bearing “traditional,” as this indicates whether their artifact was created using traditional methods of formation and decoration.
Zuni Fetish Carvings
The Zuni tribe in northern New Mexico is well known for its art of fetish carving. Believed to possess supernatural powers and help support their owners’ lives, most fetishes crafted by Zuni artisans use turquoise as their medium; others may incorporate other gems like this striking Mother of Pearl Eagle made by Amos Pino from Ramah Navajo Band – an unconnected portion of New Mexico Navajo reservation – who hails from Ramah Navajo Band.
Amos is an experienced, self-taught carver skilled at creating intricate animal images in his native stone. He specializes in carving animals using gemstone materials. Additionally, Amos excels at inlay and overlay techniques; for instance, the eagle featured here features fine silver bezel settings with hand-stamped arrows on its wings.
Like their Pueblo counterparts and Navajo jewelry, they also produce various gemstone inlay rings made by Zuni artists. Their silver jewelry boasts cluster work in petit point and needlepoint styles and traditional heart-line deer, rainbird, and rosette design motifs. Many Zuni artists also produce natural and painted pottery pieces.
Zuni artists are renowned for creating traditional pieces and unique fetish carvings known as fetishes and animal stone sculptures that connect humans with natural spirit forces. Fetishes may feature shell and turquoise beads, spiny oyster beads or other stone beads crafted into arrows, bundles of parrot feathers, or lightning bolts representing its spirit essence within an art piece.
Navajo Artifacts
Navajo silver workers are famous for their intricate silverworks, and you’ll find their works at many trading posts throughout the Four Corners region. While many businesses specialize in jewelry sales, others sell a more comprehensive selection of Native American arts and crafts. KVUE visited Turquoise Trading Post in Austin. Jim Williamson boasted that their store boasted the most significant piece of Navajo jewelry in Texas and pueblo pottery, Zuni fetishes, and kachinas – among many other offerings!
Although not a traditional trading post, this site is an essential destination for those interested in Native American history and culture. With displays of the pueblo, Navajo pottery, and sand painting by native artists across North America – plus free admission! Open seven days a week!
Nizhoni has been selling authentic Native American arts and crafts since 1994, specializing in Navajo jewelry and Zuni carvings. They focus on supporting Native American artisans while educating the public on their work; furthermore, they devote staff training efforts so customers can make educated purchasing decisions when purchasing jewelry or other items from Nizhoni.
The Cameron Trading Post is a family-owned and operated business offering jewelry by local Navajo artists and traditional Native American crafts and art like sand paintings, kachina dolls, drums, and flutes. Furthermore, they carry some of the best examples of Navajo silversmithing tradition as one of the Four Corners area’s premier Native American art galleries.
This mid-century silver Navajo bracelet from the 1960s features nine ovals of blue turquoise set into nine small ovals of silver. Stamped with the Bell Trading Post maker mark and in excellent condition with minimal signs of wear.
