Finding Authentic Native Jewelry

As the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center prepares for Balloon Fiesta week, visitors can look forward to Native art vendors filling the IPCC courtyard. Many of these vendors will be selling their own handmade jewelry, following in the tradition of their families and Pueblos. Visitors can explore unique jewelry designs inspired by Pueblo art and tradition, along with meeting and buying directly from the artists, ensuring that their purchase is authentic Native American jewelry. 

Mary V. Rosetta, a jeweler from Santo Domingo Pueblo, uses the same techniques and materials as the family members that she learned from, including stones and seashells. These materials have symbolic meanings that have also been taught over generations of jewelers. For example, coral symbolizes protection, and can be seen in examples of Mary’s jewelry, including earrings and necklaces. 

 An ongoing issue facing the Native American art community is the use of dyes or synthetic materials to create the appearance of Native American jewelry, mimicking the natural stones and shells used in authentic jewelry. When looking for coral jewelry, synthetic material can be spotted by looking for streaks in the jewelry’s color. 

“Always buy coral in the sunlight or in very good lighting,” Mary said on the newest episode of IPCC’s Pueblo in Focus podcast. “You’ll see streaks, white streaks where the dye is fading.” 

Similarly to coral, rocks that are dyed blue to imitate turquoise may have places where the dye has not penetrated, giving them an appearance different from genuine turquoise stones. Plastic is also commonly used in imitation jewelry, particularly to resemble black jet, which leaves behind brown dust after carving. 

“No matter what color it is, always try to look in the hole [of the carving],” Mary said. “[The plastic carvings] all have white dust.”

Part of countering the sale of imitation Native American jewelry is the continued teaching of jewelry making to younger generations. Mary has continued her family’s tradition by working with her son, who sells his own jewelry similarly to her late brother and father.

“I said, ‘Yeah, your uncle…and your grandpa were silversmiths,” she said of her son’s decision to sell jewelry full-time. “‘You will get their blessing from them.’”

Listen to the full interview with Mary V. Rosetta and learn more about the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center on our monthly Pueblo in Focus podcast.