Category: Uncategorized

It's been a while since Ken and I traveled outside the state for a Gem and Mineral Show. In fact the last show we did was in New Jersey early in April of 2020. By the time we got home there was talk of shutting down public gathering places due to COVID. It was a little too late for me, We were vendors at the big 22nd Street Gem and Mineral Show in Tucson, AZ during the month of January and February. There were people from all over the world there and so was COVID. I got deathly ill with an upper respiratory infection which was left undiagnosed because there were no tests for COVID available at that time....

Lasheala Yellowhorse rode the barrels...

The jewelry and crafts listed on this site are made by Native Americans living in the Four Corners area of the Southwest, USA. The Four Corners area is located where the corners of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado meet. There are many tribes living in this area, to name a few: Navajo, Zuni, Apache, Acuma, Pueblo, and others. As Traders began opening Posts on or near the reservations Natives began making jewelry and crafts for commercial use instead of the traditional personal and tribal use. Rugs, blankets, clothing, armament and accessories, with jewelry becoming the most popular among the newly acknowledged arts. It wasn't long before some nefarious traders found a way to have the jewelry copied and made overseas at a cheeper cost. By flooding the market they almost crushed the fragile economic system that was becoming popular on the reservations. Natives cried foul. The Federal Government attempted to step in and protect the authenticity of Native made...