Blue Gem Turquoise Cabochons

Blue Gem turquoise Cabochons are rare, valuable and historic American treasures. Quality Blue Gem turquoise is gifted with a wide range of color all of which are striking, full of wonder and pleasing to the eye. Because Blue Gem turquoise cabochons are very hard, a high polish is associated with this stone and unlike most turquoise, they don't easily change color. Very little large material ever came out of the Blue Gem mine. The majority found was small 1-mm "bleeder" veins and tiny nuggets which were perfect for Zuni inlay as well as their fine needlepoint and petitpoint jewelry. Blue Gem turquoise was very popular in the late 1930's and 40's and was commonly used in the Fred Harvey "tourist jewelry" that is so collectable today.

The Blue Gem turquoise deposit was first noted by Duke Goff in 1934. It was subsequently leased from the Copper Canyon Mining Co. by the American Gem Co. of San Gabriel, CA., owned by Doc Wilson and his sons, Del and William. The company operated the property until 1941 when the outbreak of the war caused a shortage of experienced miners. Both Del and William Wilson were called into the Army for the duration of the war, thus forcing the mine to close. Subsequently, the lease was allowed to lapse and work was abandoned. In 1950, the mine was leased by Lee Hand and Alvin Layton of Battle Mountain.

Production of turquoise at the Blue Gem lease in the early days of the operation was enormous. Although there is no exact information, it is reported that the output amounted to nearly $1 million in rough turquoise. The mine is still active, although it is currently in the center of a major copper deposit being developed by Duval Corp.

The Blue Gem mine was at one time located deep underground, accessed by tunnels descending as far as 800 feet. This is of interest because the Blue Gem Mine and the Bisbee Mine in Arizona are the only two mines (of which we are aware) that turquoise was found that deep in the earth. The Blue Gem mine was once consisted of extensive underground workings and open stopes. An adit several hundred feet long on the main structure connected to numerous shorter tunnels and several open stopes. Directly above the main adit was a glory hole some 100 feet long.

Blue Gem turquoise occurs in argillized quartz monzonite cut by two limonite-stained sheer zones, one trending N. 35 o W . and dipping 75 o NE., the other trending N, 25 o E. and dipping 55 o NW. An extensive breccia zone about 10 feet wide is developed between the two bounding sheers. Exceptionally good quality turquoise forms veinlets up to three-quarters of an inch thick along the shears. Pyrite-bearing quartz veins are closely associated with the turquoise and while pyrite in Blue Gem is unusual to see, it is not unheard of.

Blue Gem turquoise remains some of the finest turquoise ever found, and unlike most turquoise mines, (in which the majority mined is chalky and only usable if stabilized) most of the turquoise found there is of a gem-quality grade. Today the Blue Gem mine is not viable because it sits in the middle of a huge mining operation. The emphasis at the surrounding mine is on precious metals and the extraction of turquoise is considered a hindrance in the mining process. The ever popular "Dump Diving" for turquoise through the overburden is not tolerated due to the very real danger of becoming buried in a slide. Insurance factors, equipment hazards, high explosives and safety issues along with a lack of interest from the mining company keep Blue Gem turquoise unavailable to the world, at least for now.

At Twin Rocks Trading Post, we possess a deep love for great American turquoise. Visit us under the red rock twins and we will teach you about the joys of collecting turquoise.

Santa Domingo Jewelry

While contemporary Indian jewelry has followed many paths, the work most closely linked to the jewelry creations of ancestral Puebloans is the stone and shell necklaces, pendants, rings and bracelets produced at Santa Domingo Pueblo in New Mexico. Ray Lovato’s heishi necklaces and flat stone earrings provide one of the best modern examples of how ancient Puebloan jewelry looked.

When stone merchants come to the village, competition for turquoise and other materials is fierce. Using five-gallon cans for chairs, Santa Domingo women arrange themselves around tables piled with stones and shells to individually pick the raw materials they will shape into their jewelry.

Discoidal bead necklaces known as heishi require rough-cut stones which are first drilled, usually with electric drills and grinding machines, and then strung on a wire. Next the artist holds both ends of a wire strand and carefully draws the beads back and forth across a grinding wheel or other rough surface, shaping the heishi. The diameter of the beads can be very fine or more substantial. The artist then strings the beads on a softer cord such as cotton. Formed this way, good Santa Domingo heishi should feel uniform and smooth to the touch when running your fingers along the beads.

Be aware that some stone merchants provide polished and drilled stones with foreign-made shell beads for stringing. The unscrupulous will simply string these materials and offer the result as authentic handmade jewelry. Beware of necklaces where beads do not fit into each other and feel rough when you run your hands down the string of disks. They do not demonstrate the fit of a proper Santa Domingo necklace.

Mosaic inlay is still prevalent among several families at Santa Domingo Pueblo. Traditional backings - wood or shell - gave way to experimental materials such as phonograph records or car batteries in the early half of the twentieth century. Today shell is widely used as a backing. Santa Domingo artists may leave the shells in their natural form or trim them to a certain shape. As with other types of Puebloan mosaic inlay, the artist then creates a design or pattern on the backing with many varied-sized stones. Santa Domingo mosaic work tends to be more abstract in design than the geometric and pictorial mosaics of Zuni artists.

Navajo Jewelry

Contemporary Navajo jewelry shows dynamism and innovation as modern artists build on the foundation of early silversmithing techniques. Top Navajo jewelry artists pay homage to the techniques of the past while pushing into new expressions with exotic metals and stones gleaned from around the world. The culmination is an array of jewelry expression from classic Navajo concho belts and bracelets to modern forms expressed in precious metals and sparkling gems.

Navajo metalsmiths were not only responsible for the inception of Navajo jewelry, but the introduction of silversmithing to Hopi and Zuni artisans. One of the most prominent early Navajo jewelry silversmiths, Atsidi Sani, learned metalsmithing techniques from a Mexican man living near Mount Taylor, New Mexico. He is often credited with the emergence of Navajo silver jewelry, first by teaching his four sons and they in turn, teaching others in the newly formed Navajo Nation.

Early Navajo jewelry consisted of simple earrings, ketohs, belt fasteners and bracelets. Traders provided tools and supplies such as silver coins and slugs. More important, traders gave Indian silversmiths a place to trade and sell their work. In the 1920’s sheet silver replaced silver slugs, allowing artists to work more quickly since they no longer needed to melt and pound the slugs flat. A Navajo jewelry style evolved, typified by heavy silverwork hammered, bent and molded, either alone or sometimes around stones.

One early technique still used by Navajo silversmiths is making silver castings in sand or stone molds. The artist carves a design into damp sand or tufa, a porous volcanic stone, and then secures a second flat stone on top to complete the mold. Using a crucible, the artist then pours melted silver into the mold through a carved channel. Air vents allow steam to escape, preventing air bubbles from forming in the cooling silver.

After the silver has cooled and hardened, the artist removes the piece from the mold. Any silver not part of the overall design is cut off and the edges are filed smooth. All surfaces of the jewelry are ground and polished. Sometimes, artists add stones as a final accent.

Early Navajo jewelry emerged from blacksmithing techniques that required the heating and softening of metal interspersed with hammering to work the metal into desired shapes. Great skill is required to balance these opposite forces. Too much heating and hammering causes the piece to become “work-hardened” making it brittle and prone to cracking. Too little force can lead to a poorly shaped piece with shallow, inconsistent design work.

After shaping the piece, the silversmith uses a graver or die stamps to inscribe designs into the metal. Many artists create their own carved metal stamps to add design elements such as lines or swirls to their jewelry. The artist places the designed end on the desired spot of the jewelry piece then strikes, stamping the design into the metal surface. A good silversmith strikes the stamp evenly each time, producing a consistent design.

----Excerpt from A Guide To Indian Jewelry in the Southwest by Georgiana Kennedy Simpson

Navajo Baskets

Navajo baskets possess a rich history, indicative of the Navajo people’s movement into the Southwest and their subsequent adoption of a lifestyle which would best help them survive in the high red rock desert of the American Southwest. Interestingly, Navajo baskets today descend from basketmaking techniques adopted from Ancestral Puebloan people. As is true with other Navajo art forms perfected by rug weavers and silversmiths, Navajo basket artists have mastered techniques necessary to create fine baskets with a uniquely Navajo flavor.

All Navajo baskets employ the coil method of weaving using rhus trilobata, more commonly known as three-leaf sumac. The foundation for all designs is the Navajo ceremonial basket which continues to be woven and used in traditional Navajo healing rites. In the late 1960’s, a few Navajo basket weavers experimented with other pictorial elements such as yei’i and eagles. As a result of this early experimentation, Navajo basket artistry is currently experiencing its richest period of innovation. Led by fine basket technicians and artisans such as Elsie Holiday, Lorraine Black, Alicia Nelson and Joann Johnson, a plethora of representational and geometric designs is making contemporary Navajo basketry one of the most exciting expressions in contemporary Native American art.

Hopi Jewelry

Hopi jewelry, although a somewhat latecomer to the southwestern silver jewelry pantheon is widely and wildly collected by enthusiasts of clean designs executed in gold and silver. At Twin Rocks Trading Post, our love of fine Native American artwork spills into a top selection of contemporary Hopi silver jewelry. Visitors venturing to our store located in Bluff, Utah’s beautiful red rock river valley will find a large assortment of Hopi silver overlay bracelets, earrings, pins, buckles, and pendants.

Hopi jewelry created from shell, wood, bone and stones, including turquoise, has been created at their ancient villages for many centuries. The village of Orayvi is considered the oldest continuously inhabited community in North America and beautiful renditions of ancient jewelry as well as ongoing traditions in painting, basket making and cloth weaving laid a rich foundation for a wholly new Hopi jewelry art form.

In the late 1930’s, curators from the Museum of Northern Arizona encouraged Hopi artists to create their own unique style to differentiate their work from the Navajo and Zuni jewelry being made at that time. Using designs from Hopi pottery, baskets, weaving and paintings, artists Paul Saufkie and Fred Kabotie created classic interpretations to be executed in Hopi silver.

Paul Saufkie (1898 - 1933) learned silversmithing in the 1920’s and after World War II, in a program sponsored by the G.I. Bill of Rights, taught returning Hopi veterans the art of Hopi overlay jewelry. One of their first and most successful students, Victor Coochwytewa, developed a new technique whereby the bottom silver layer is oxidized, allowing the cutout designs in the top layer to show more prominently, a technique still in use today. In 1949, Paul, along with Fred Kabotie, formed the Hopi Silvercraft Cooperative Guild, providing training, materials, financing, work space and marketing for a growing Hopi silver jewelry market.

Today, contemporary Hopi artists continually refine their techniques while finding new ways of expressing these beautiful designs for discriminating buyers in Native American art. Travel down U.S. Highway 191 and visit two of the best locations in the Southwest; Twin Rocks Trading Post and Bluff, Utah.

Turquoise Jewelry

Outstanding turquoise jewelry is a special passion of the Simpson Family of Twin Rocks Trading Post. We search far and wide for the best in natural American turquoise as well as fine examples of Persian and Chinese turquoise. Turquoise is identified by the mine from which it comes. Our wide selection of classic American turquoise includes Bisbee, Blue Diamond, Blue Gem, Burnham, Carico Lake, Cripple Creek, Damele, Fox, Kingman, Lone Mountain, Morenci, Number 8, Pilot Mountain, Red Mountain, Royston, Sleeping Beauty, Stenech and Turquoise Mountain.

Not only do we handle fine turquoise cabochons, but we believe in placing turquoise in classic settings. We work with a number of outstanding silver and goldsmiths such as Will Denetdale, John Begay Jr., John Yazzie, and Eugene Livingston to bring you true Native American jewelry treasures. Our inventory includes turquoise bracelets, earrings, rings, pendants, necklaces and other beautiful objects crafted in sterling silver and 14k gold. If you are searching for high-quality Navajo turquoise and silver jewelry, you will not find a better selection anywhere in the Southwest. We also work with outstanding turquoise bead artists Ray Lovato, John Huntress, Bruce Eckhardt and Kai Gallagher.

Venture down U.S. Highway 191 and find the best kept secrets in the Southwest; Bluff, Utah and Twin Rocks Trading Post. See why our many loyal clients benefit from the strong relationships we have built with local artists over the past decades. When you visit, you will find out why Twin Rocks Trading Post is not only a leader in fine Southwestern turquoise jewelry, but also purveyors of quality Native American arts and crafts. Enjoy your visit.

Navajo Rugs

From the simple striped blankets of the Classic Period, Navajo rug designs have exploded into a number of regional styles and individual expressions of the Navajo weaver's imagination. Serrated diamonds, lightning zigzags and bold crosses adorn Navajo chief blankets. Pictorial elements present in weavings by the 1800's, developed into contemporary pictorial rugs which mirror traditional and contemporary Navajo life. Hispanic influences can be seen in the lightning serrates of contemporary Red Mesa weavings. Early traders on the Navajo reservation such as J.B. Moore and Lorenzo Hubbell introduced Oriental designs which found new translations in Two Grey Hills, Ganado, Klagetoh, Burntwater, early Crystal, Storm and Teec Nos Pos weavings. Vegetal dyes were promoted by the Lippincotts at Wide Ruins resulting in beautiful banded patterns which also appear in late Crystal and Chinle weavings.

Navajo rugs represent a perfect example of an art form acquired by the Navajo people and transformed from a Rio Grande Pueblo to Navajo sensibility. Adopting the vertical loom and native cotton yarns, Navajo weavers quickly established themselves as master craftsmen in the weaving arts. Once churro sheep were introduced in the 1500's, Navajo weavers' skill at transforming wool thread into high quality mantas (wearing blankets), dresses, shirts and sashes made their work desirable not only among themselves, but by surrounding tribes such as the Pueblos, Apache, Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Sioux and Ute as well.

Today, in ruggedly beautiful red rock country, Navajo weavers continue to create masterworks in wool. Bluff, Utah is located just across the river from the Navajo reservation so Twin Rocks Trading Post and our many loyal clients benefit from the strong relationships we have built with local artists over the past decades. Our proximity to the Navajo Reservation also ensures a broad selection of traditional Navajo silver and turquoise jewelry, baskets, pottery and folk art. Venture down U.S. Highway 191 and find the best kept secrets in the Southwest; Bluff, Utah and Twin Rocks Trading Post.

Navajo Basket Weaver - Elsie Holiday

Considered one of the best of the best Navajo basket weavers, Elsie Stone Holiday married into the famed Douglas Mesa family of weavers. Weaving baskets has become almost an addiction for her. "When I go two or three days without weaving I get anxious to get started again," she says. She weaves 12 hours a day, 5 days a week. "Sometimes I think, 'How long can this last?'", she wistfully states, but for now she is content with her art, finding immense satisfaction in creating premier quality baskets.

Learning the art of basket weaving from the family that is famous for the Navajo basket renaissance is certainly an advantage for Elsie Stone Holiday, and she has added talent and dedication to that advantage, with remarkable results.

Elsie knew how to weave rugs before she married, so weaving baskets was fairly easy for her to master. She learned from such renowned artists as Sally and Lorraine Black, Rose Esplain, and her mother-in-law, Betty White Holiday. Then she simply made the art her own by using her natural intuitive creativity.

The mother of six children, Elsie has only been weaving for about eleven years, since her children became old enough to allow her the time. Now they watch her, and sometimes help with the non-weaving tasks connected to the work, learning as they do so.

Elsie gathers the sumac strips used for her weaving along waterways in Hanksville or Moab, Utah, and Farmington, New Mexico. She says the reeds grow well along irrigation ditches, and are most pliable in the spring and fall months. She gathers about a six-month supply and then takes them home and readies them for weaving by stripping off the bark and splitting the reeds. Then Elsie does something few other weavers care to do- she takes the split reed and pulls it through a hole in a can, to strip away any excess, making the strips uniform size. It is this, and her propensity for a uniform, tight weave, that makes Elsie's baskets premium quality. If she notices any irregularities, Elsie picks out her weaving and begins again. She truly cares about making her baskets as perfect as possible.

Elsie's technique is not her only fine point, she also has a wonderful imagination for new design ideas. Elsie is modest when praised for her work and eager for any suggestions. She has an enthusiastic desire to please those who buy her baskets.

Elsie's father is a practicing medicine man, but it is her mother-in-law who has helped her with her weaving by performing ceremonies for her. A crystal gazer, Betty knows much about traditional Navajo medicine. She sprinkled corn pollen on a spider web and placed it on Elsie's head, all the while saying a prayer. The spider web represents the weaving done by spider woman, an important personage in Navajo mythology. Elsie confirms the validity of the ceremony by proclaiming how much it has helped her in her weaving.

Damele Turquoise Jewelry and Cabochons

Damele is a wonderfully distinctive turquoise, very hard, and visually appealing. It forms in veins and occasionally as nuggets in carbonaceous chert and also diatomaceous earth. Damele is a well known mine known for its highly sought after cabochons and beads. It ranges in color from pure lime-green through bright chartreuse; yellow with black webbing; white; orange and brown; a caramel color turquoise with bright green polka dots, and small black nuggets with bright yellow-green bumps poking out of the black matrix. Normally the turquoise is associated with black, brown, or tan matrix but Damele turquoise is not normal by any standard.

A small, tightly run operation, the Damele mine is located thirty miles east of Austin, Nevada. The mine is located on The Dry Creek Ranch owned by the Damele family. There, they raise unique horses that carry the Damele name. Benny Damele discovered the mine sometime around 1973. Soon thereafter, Clyde Wright became involved in mining the claim and worked it for approximately 18 years. Tony Cotner, an excellent miner, merchandiser and truly colorful character, has owned the claim since 1990 when he bought it from Benny Damele. Mr. Cotner, also known as"Mean Green", states there is an ancient subtropical zone located beneath the mine that may be responsible for the unusual colors associated with Damele turquoise although he is unsure whether the organic environment has anything to do with the coloration.

Chemical composition: CuAl,(PO404(OH)8.4H2O.

Navajo Rugs - Storm Rugs

Explaining the storm design presents a bit of a dilemma. The pattern is created by weaving artists from all corners of the Navajo reservation and beyond, yet pinpointing its origin and meaning is a different story, or I will say, several stories.

Although storm pattern rugs later became associated with Tuba Trading Post on the western side of the Navajo reservation, many feel it first made its appearance and was first popularized by J.B. Moore, a short-lived but influential trader at the Crystal Trading Post in the nineteen-teens. In his first catalogue published in 1911, he featured two weavings with the quincunx (I love this word...it was one of Kira’s spelling bee words last year) layout and attributed the pattern to one family designated specifically to weave what became known as the storm design.

Our culture loves asking the question, “...but, what does it mean?” The first story comes from Cameron Trading Post: Jean Mann, a weaver from the area explained that the center of the rug, in the square part, was the weaver’s home or the weaver’s hooghan. Lightning connects the weaver to the four sacred mountains that form the border of Dinetah. These mountains are the squares in each corner of the rug. The rain is the warp of the rug. Centipedes flank the hooghan on each side. In early versions of storm weavings, above and below there were whirling logs close to the hooghan. This symbol, similar to and because of, the Nazi swastika was later changed to look like another centipede. Outward from this element is the 6-legged water bug. The whole rug symbolizes a storm and also portrays the storm as a sacred occurrence.

My understanding is that J.B. Moore had a fondness for Oriental weavings and possibly introduced Eastern rug patterns to the local weavers. An explanation given by the Navajo Rug Repair Company, experts in cleaning and repairing Oriental and Navajo weavings, lends credence to this theory. They state, “One story about the design origin is that it was derived from the labels on flour sacs sold to Navajos in the early years. This author has not been able to find any flour sac labels that show anything like this design (the same story is often written concerning the swastika design as found in some Navajo rugs). I theorize that the Storm Pattern's origin lies within Kufic script that is found in Persian, Caucasian and other Mid-eastern rugs, particularly in the borders of those rugs. The "Storm Pattern" design shows the favored quincunx pattern, a ubiquitous design styling in the Orient.”

I like what Ann Hedlund, a cultural anthropologist and director of the Gloria F. Ross Center for Tapestry Studies at the Arizona State Museum in Tucson has to say about J.B. Moore’s introduction of the design:

“In 1911, trader J.B. Moore published a catalogue showing a Navajo rug with a central rectangle, four zigzag arms radiating to the corners, and bold, isolated geometric motifs along the ends and sides. Stating, ‘This pattern is one of the really legendary designs embodying a portion of the Navajo mythology,’ Moore started his own legend that has yet to be unraveled or understood. No earlier Navajo design resembles this one—in weaving, sandpainting, or any other medium.” Professor Hedlund’s explanation supports the idea of outside influences on Navajo weaving and to me, belongs in the category I have endearingly titled “Great White Trader Stories”.

Ann Hedlund chimes in again with the following thoughts:

“Weavers today differ in their interpretation of the motifs and layout. Some deny knowledge of any symbols and say the stories came from traders. Others suggest that maybe the center symbolizes a Navajo hogan, a lake, or the center of the universe; the corner elements are spoken of variably as the four sacred mountains, the four winds, or the four cardinal directions. The radiating zigzag lines are usually called lightning lines or whirling logs. The individual motifs at both ends are called water bugs or pinon beetles.”

Whatever their murky beginnings, storm pattern weavings have since become one of the most popular Navajo rug designs and invite many interpretations as to their meaning.

---Georgiana Kennedy Simpson

Navajo Silversmith - Allison Snowhawk Lee

Speaking of the silver and gold jewelry he hand crafts, Allison Lee's captivating voice is sincere when he says, "One time my uncle told me that everything we build comes from the earth, like the silver that comes from the earth, or the turquoise that comes from the earth. That is a lot of energy. You put it together and you put your heart and mind into a piece. Then sometimes a certain piece of jewelry- I believe- it is made for a certain person. I usually have a ring, or something, that stays with me for about two or three years, until the right person comes along. And then that person buys that piece. I believe that every piece of jewelry that I make is made for somebody out there- it's made for somebody special. Whoever might be having problems, or something like that. In essence, that energy helps that person get help, by wearing pieces that we make. That is the way I look at it."

Born in the heart of the Navajo homeland, in the spring of 1958, Allison Snowhawk Lee attended boarding school until 8th grade. Lee is the last name given to him by the boarding school because they couldn't pronounce, spell, or translate his Navajo name; Snowhawk is his grandmother's name.

Allison became involved in silversmithing in a high school art class, making his first simple jewelry pieces at age 12. When he was 14 years old his mother asked him to remove the last stone from an old turquoise brooch and make her a ring with it. Being able to combine old and new into something beautiful gave him a metaphysical sense of bridging generations, connecting him to his heritage and at the same time launching him into a viable vocation.

During his high school summers he worked at silver shops in Gallup, New Mexico. His first job included sweeping floors, but as he worked he became acquainted with the top silversmith, and learned his techniques. Each summer thereafter he found a job in different shops, and studied under various masters. Now he is the master who owns a shop that employs high school age apprentices.

When Allison graduated from high school in 1977 he won the "Most Artistic" award in his class of 160 students. That was just the beginning of his awards. Allison has won numerous honors in prestigious shows in seven different states. He is not only artistic, but very creative, and therein lies his greatest challenge. "A lot of people copy," he says, "and then pretty soon an original idea is being mass produced. I've got to keep ahead of them."

Allison makes many different kinds of jewelry: earrings, necklaces, rings, and bracelets; and is best known for his elaborate concho belts. "I really like making concho belts," he professes, "and coming up with different styles."

Allison uses either silver or, occasionally, 14 karat gold, and sets it with coral, turquoise, or other semi-precious stones. Hand fabricated, his work may be either stamped or contain bezel set stones. His favorite piece was a squash blossom necklace he made using tools he created.

Allison goes on the road two or three times a month, for two or three days at a time, to market his work or attend shows. He also does demonstrations and seminars at Grand Canyon and other places. When he is at work in his shop he may put in up to 16 hours a day. "I take breaks sometimes," he confesses, "Sometimes I get burned out. That's the time to just walk away from it. That's when it's time to go outdoors, just to kind of refresh my mind.

"I go hunting, I go hiking. What I really love to do is go to old Indian ruins and just look around, see what I can find. In a way I get ideas from the old, and then try to come up with something new. Then I get back into it. Everything just starts coming together once I start making something. It just comes together in my mind."

Allison is considered a success by all who are familiar with his work, but he has a different standard, set with his wife and three young sons in mind: "I think being successful is keeping everything balanced out between your family and your work. I think that's what being successful is, caring enough to spend time with your family, and not letting the work and the career overtake your life. I've seen a lot of people that have done that. I'm just glad that I've had people there to tell me the difference. Successful to me is just being happy and making sure my family is fed and clothed. That says it all, right there."

Navajo Rugs - Two Grey Hills Rugs

Two Grey Hills is located to the east of the Chuska Mountains and south of Shiprock, New Mexico. Navajo rugs from this area feature intricate designs woven with natural sheep wool in varying hues of brown, cream and grey anchored with black and white. The black is typically over dyed to make a more solid contrast with the other colors. Two Grey Hills rugs will typically have a single or double serrated design as the central focus within the weaving. Other design elements such as geometrics, stair steps, even occasionally, pictorial elements will take up the balance of the weaving. A dark border typically surrounds the interior design elements.

Two Grey Hills weavings are believed to have started around 1911. Encouraged by two local traders, George Bloomfield and Ed Davies, weavers were encouraged to continually improve the quality of their rugs. Eschewing the reds of Ganado and wild distortions of Germantown weavings, Two Grey Hills weavers preferred the natural shades they were able to create by blending the brown, black and white wool of their own flocks.

Encouraged to excel in their weaving technique, even today, Navajo rugs from this area tend to have a higher thread count per inch than weavings from other areas of the Navajo reservation. While a typical contemporary Navajo rug will average around 30 wefts to the linear inch, Two Grey Hills weavings average around 45. The acknowledged master of Two Grey Hills weavings, Daisy Taugelchee was known to create tapestries with up to 115 wefts per linear inch.

Navajo Basket Weaver - Mary Holiday Black

Considered primarily responsible for the preservation and renaissance of the art of Navajo basketry, Mary Holiday Black is a legend in her own time. Mary received the Utah Governor's 1995 Folk Art Award, and in September of 1996 a $10,000 National Heritage Fellowship Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, which was presented to her in Washington D.C. by First Lady Hillary Clinton.

The matriarch of a large and talented family of basket weavers, Mary Holiday Black has not only done much to preserve the tradition of Navajo basketry, she has revolutionized it with her daring creativity. Recognized by experts as the nation's preeminent Navajo basket weaver, Mary's pieces are highly valued collector's items, selling for as much as eight thousand dollars.

Mary's story has been written and rewritten, but it is a story worth the telling, for she has kept a centuries old art form from extinction. In 1960 it is estimated that there were only a dozen active basket makers on the Navajo reservation, most women having turned to the more profitable art of rug weaving. One of the basket weavers was Mary Black.

Taught to weave by her grandmother's relative when she was 11, Mary has spent over half a century creating baskets for sacred ceremonial purposes as well as the art world, sharing her knowledge with anyone willing to learn. Nine of Mary's eleven children have followed in her footsteps, becoming world class weavers in their own right.

"One of the reasons we want to keep basket making going among our people," Mary says, "is because they are important when a person gets healed, to bring rain, for weddings, the Fire Dance, the Seven-Day Ceremony."

Each ceremonial basket has a story. 'There are many basket stories," Mary says. "If we stop making the baskets, we lose the stories."

Each ceremonial basket also has an accompanying song. Mary knows the songs and other tribal lore because of her parents, Teddy and Betty Holiday, who were medicine people. Strict tribal taboos dictating how and when ceremonial baskets can be woven contribute to their scarcity. Mary has successfully challenged some of the taboos, arguing in favor of preserving cultural history through basketry.

Mary was also one of the first to consider weaving baskets with imaginative designs targeted toward the Indian art collector's market. Many of her baskets depict traditional beliefs, stories or legends; some inspired by Navajo sandpaintings.

Working daily, a basket may take up to four months to complete. Mary's hands often ache from the tedious strain of weaving as she keeps constant pressure on a basket's sides so they will curve upward when it's finished. 'These days my hands get tired, and I have to light a fire and pray for energy," she has said, 'They are not as quick as when I was a child."

Bisbee Turquoise

Bisbee turquoise is considered one of the classics. The most recognized variety is a dark lavender blue color with a deep chocolate brown to black matrix. As with all turquoise, there is a wide variety of quality from the Bisbee mine; color and matrix patterns vary a great deal. Some of the most distinctively recognizable Indian jewelry has been set and photographed containing classic Bisbee turquoise. The most productive period of the Bisbee turquoise mine was the 1950's and 1960's. Anything coming from the mine these days is scavenged from the old dumps. The mine has been closed since the early 1970's and is currently owned by Phelps Dodge Corp. Bisbee Mine. Arizona, Cochise County. Turquoise is found in the open pit copper mine. (The Lavender Pit) Some very fine quality, hard turquoise is found here with good color and beautiful dark-colored matrix. It is found as stringers up to a few inches wide; small nugget-like masses in granite and quartzite; and minute stringers in massive pyrite.

Return to Twin Rocks Trading Post

"It's All So Confusing"

Several months ago we were asked to present at the annual SUN conference. For weeks before the inquiry, Barry, Jana and I had been discussing how we should get out more and see what is happening outside the trading post. The consensus was that we had become stale and needed to broaden our perspective, so I accepted without actually knowing what the event involved.

As it turns out, the SUN (which is an acronym for Spanish, Ute and Navajo) Conference is a gathering for educators hoping to improve the lot of their Native American and Spanish charges. When I finally realized what I had gotten us into, I began to question what we have to do with education. I have always jokingly maintained that Twin Rocks Trading Post is a nonprofit educational institution which is primarily responsible for collecting stories from the local artists and passing them along to our patrons. That, of course is a long winded way of saying that we stand around and shoot the you know what. In any case, this assignment would put us to the test.

The ever creative Jana said, “Don’t worry, I have an idea.” That statement always makes me worry. Not that Jana lacks good ideas, it is just that she is the creative type and I am . . . not. So, while my linear mind likes things to be more concrete, she is comfortable winging it. As a result, we arrived at the conference with about a dozen baskets and a vague outline for our discussion.

The conference is held annually at the Ute Mountain Casino at Towoac, Colorado, which is not one of my favorite places. I do not inherently dislike gaming, I just hate to see all that hard earned money going down the drain when it could be put to better use. There are such great needs on the Reservation, and feeding a one-armed bandit should not take precedence over feeding the kids. Through the years, however, I have become reconciled to the fact that once they leave my checkbook, the funds are no longer mine to control; if the artists enjoy the slots, so be it.

The keynote speaker read a poem about Bureau of Indian Affairs schools and how they had stripped his people of their language, pride and heritage, so right out of the chute I thought Jana and I were in trouble. Indian traders are an easy target for idealists and anybody with a race card. Barry, Jana and I have, on several occasions, been scraped and scarred during similar events. As Duke would say, “We have been shot at and missed and shit at and hit.” Unfortunately, there is a sound basis for the accusations. Historically, a few Indian traders have done a great deal to earn their bad reputations. I, however, never take credit or responsibility for what someone else has done, and insist that people measure me based upon my actions, not upon those of others.

Once the keynote address was complete, Jana and I propped our baskets up on the stage and she launched into her introduction, addressing the crowd in Navajo. As she explained her spaghetti clan affiliation and my connection to the linguisa sausage people, the crowd warmed and I began to feel more at ease. For the next hour we talked about how we had noticed the children of our basket weavers becoming more interested in the traditional stories their mothers, uncles, aunties and grandmothers wove into their baskets, how we had seen more dialogue among the generations about these cultural tales and how we felt the Navajo culture was being perpetuated, if only in a small way, by the weavings.

The presentation seemed to be well received, and once it was over, a group of teachers and students crowded the stage to inspect the baskets and ask questions. The visitors were generally complimentary, and expressed their delight that Jana spoke Navajo so well. As I worked the group, I noticed an older woman whom I guessed to be about 65 standing back with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. She exhibited a sense of disgust. Thinking I might engage her, I asked, “Do you have any questions?” Walking straight up to the only ceremonial basket we had on display, she pointed her arthritic finger at it and said in a clear and distinct voice, “That is the only basket that should be woven. All this other stuff is just confusion. It is what is creating all the problems on the Reservation.” I was taken aback and did not have a sensible response, so she simply walked off.

Not long after that, we were asked to remove the baskets from the stage so the conference could go forward. As it turned out, the next act was a rap group called Mistic. The lead rapper, Mistic, a rather large Navajo youth with charisma that lit the entire auditorium, stepped on the platform and launched into a discussion about how the group’s music was dedicated to keeping the Navajo language and culture alive. It was clear that Mistic’s message connected with the group, because everyone began to clap and cheer.

As Jana and I sat there watching the show, I was amazed by how effective Mistic was with all ages and how the rappers really were doing a lot to keep Navajo values alive and well. Mistic and his posse were nothing short of sensational. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed my older inquisitor leaving the room, so I got up and followed her out. Touching her on the arm as she exited the auditorium, I asked, “What do you think of Mistic; don’t you feel the group is doing a great deal for the Navajo people?” “No,” she said, “that is the kind of confusion those baskets create.”

Turning away, I could not help thinking, “If that is the kind of confusion our baskets create, then bring it on.” I walked back into the room to see kids from 13 to 65 dancing, waving their arms in the air and rapping in Navajo. After experiencing Mistic, I have become convinced that confusion may be the key to cultural survival. With that in mind Barry, Jana and I have become more confusing then ever. Let confusion reign.

With warm regards,

Steve, Barry and The Team

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