In short, wearing Native patterns or jewelry is fine as long as you bought them from an actual Native designer. Art fairs, like the Native Art Market at the National Museum of the American Indian this weekend, are a perfect place to find genuine Native designs and meet the artists behind them.

There is no distinct difference between an Indian tribe and an Indian nation. Before America was settled by Europeans, each tribe was self-governed and operated as a separate nation — with separate leadership, customs, laws, and lifestyles. From time to time, various tribes waged war against each other.

From these extensive analyses, 10 specific cultural elements emerged as common across diverse tribal backgrounds of the urban American Indians: Ancestry, including matriarchal affiliation or patriarchal affiliation; Clans or Bands and the notion of kinship; Spirituality; Storytelling; Home, often synonymous with …

What do you see as the primary difference between Native American and European American conceptions of land and ownership? Native Americans respected land and saw it as something to be used communally by all the members of a tribe. European Americans saw land as something to be owned and divided up for individual use.

Native Americans highly value and respect the wisdom that comes with age. When eating, children and young adults serve the elders who always eat first. Never step ahead of someone in line who might be older than you, as this is considered very rude behavior. Native Americans are generous and thoughtful gift-givers.

The best way to clean is a simple one. A soft brush (such as an old toothbrush) or a soft cloth can be used to carefully remove the tarnish or other materials from the piece. Remember to be gentle with your touch, rubbing the piece with medium pressure to remove the tarnish.

“Naja” is the name the Navajo gave to a symbol believed to have originated in the Middle East in ancient times. Like some many symbols, it was created as a talisman for protection, with the Moors affixing it to their horses’ bridles to ward off the evil eye.

For the Navajo, the items were placed in pawn for multiple reasons. Not only would you receive some quick cash or goods, but secondly, the items were pawned for safe-keeping in the owner’s interest. Material wealth for the Navajo had traditionally been measured in animals and in blankets.

The naja is a crescent-shaped piece that is often worn alone as a pendant or as the center piece of a squash blossom necklace in Southwestern Indian jewelry. The word “naja” is the Navajo word for “crescent”.

Authentic Old Pawn jewelry will have a natural gray patina, indicating age. It takes decades for the patina to develop and may appear grayer in dry climates like the southwest. Humidity will add a darker, blacker patina. Patina typically isn’t buffed off in order to preserve its history and value.

1940. “Pawn” jewelry is a term used within the Native American dealer community and refers to old Indian jewelry that was traded for credit or goods. Old pawn jewelry was often Navajo made. You can still get pieces that really are “old pawn,” meaning they still have the original pawn ticket attached.

A genuine piece will have no wavering lines or lopsided designs, well-cut stones that are uniform in size, and no visible glue between the metal and stone. Also be on the lookout for sterling silver versus silver-plated jewelry. A quick way to tell the difference is to hold a small magnet to the piece.

To pawn something is to use it as collateral when you’re borrowing money. When you pawn a necklace at a pawn shop, you get cash in exchange for it with the understanding that you can buy it back later.

925 stamp on new items that are small. Native American silversmiths usually stamp their Sterling Silver jewelry with a stamp that says Sterling, IF the item is large enough to have room for the full word. If it is stamped .

Buy from a Trusted Dealer The best way to avoid buying fake jewelry is to avoid dealers that sell it. At Southwest Silver Gallery, we’ve built a solid reputation by sourcing our genuine Native American jewelry from artisans representing the Navajo, Zuni, Hopi, and Santo Domingo tribes.

Navajo – The Navajo were the first silversmiths. The commonly design jewelry around a stone’s natural shape. When Navajo do inlay, it is bolder than Zuni inlay and usually has silver between the inlaid pieces (called “channel inlay”). Their inlay tends to be more complex than Navajo, with more cuts and patterns.

There are two very general categories of Native American jewelry: metalwork, and beadwork. Before Europeans came native metalwork was fairly simple, consisting primarily of hammering and etching copper into pendants or earrings and fashioning copper and silver into beads.

The Zuni (Zuni: A:shiwi; formerly spelled Zuñi) are Native American Pueblo peoples native to the Zuni River valley. The current day Zuni are a Federally recognized tribe and most live in the Pueblo of Zuni on the Zuni River, a tributary of the Little Colorado River, in western New Mexico, United States.

The Navajo and the Apache are closely related tribes, descended from a single group that scholars believe migrated from Canada. Both Navajo and Apache languages belong to a language family called “Athabaskan,” which is also spoken by native peoples in Alaska and west-central Canada.

Zuni(Noun) A member of the Zuni tribe. Etymology: From earlier Zuñi, from American Spanish, from Acoma Keresan sɨ̂‧ni or a cognate. Zuni(Adjective)