What are the Navajo
The largest Southwest American Indian reservation and the nation’s largest tribe is that of the Navajo which has more than 160,000 members. The Navajo Indians call themselves Dine’, “the people”. Their reservation is in Northern Arizona, New Mexico and southwestern Utah. The Navajo ancestors were hunters and gatherers from the north who wandered into the Southwest around 500 to 800 years ago. The language is Athapascan and is similar to the Apache tribe of the Southwest. Their language is related to that of the Athapascan people living in northwestern Canada. The Navajo were the first Southwest American Indians to learn silversmithing. The first Navajo to learn silversmithing was Atsidi Sani, or “Old Smith”, in the 1850’s. The earliest Navajo Indian jewelry was made using American or Mexican silver coins as well as ingots. Today, the squash blossom and concha belt are the most known form of Navajo silversmithing as well as bracelets, watchbands, rings, barrettes, earrings and necklaces. The Navajo make both hand hammered {hand stamped} and hand cast silver Navajo Indian jewelry. One of the earliest forms was that of sandstone or tufa casting {sandcast} in which the design is carved out into a two-piece block of sandstone or volcanic tuff “tufa” and then blackened with smoke to keep the molten silver from sticking. Usually, no more than five or six casts could be made before the tufa block wore out. About 90% of hand casting today in done by using concrete or oil molds.
