| The Navajo learned the skills to make jewelry
from Mexicans and the Anglos. Early tools and designs reflected those cultures, not their own. Interestingly, native
Americans did not have access to silver until well into the 20th century, and instead used raw metal, including
brass and copper, as well as Mexican pesos and American dollar coins. In the late 1930s, traders brought in silver
for Indian artists and silversmithing roughly dates back to this period. |
