USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Turquoise is one of the dominant materials of Southwestern Native American jewelry. Thousands of pieces were found in the Ancestral Pueblo sites at Chaco Canyon. Some turquoise mines date back to Precolumbian times, and Ancestral Pueblo peoples traded the turquoise with Mesoamericans.

Detailed explanation-2: -All peoples believed turquoise to be the happiest stone. It was used both in jewelry and for ritual purposes on all the continents. Records of it are met in the very first works about gems, as well as in a number of myths (especially those of the Navajo Indians).

Detailed explanation-3: -Turquoise has been used by southwest American Indian tribes since 200 B.C. The turquoise stone was used in religion, ceremonies, art, trade, treaty negotiations as well as jewelry. Today, turquoise jewelry is being made by Navajo, Zuni, Hopi and Santo Domingo Indians as well as other tribes in our American Southwest.

Detailed explanation-4: -The main tribes who are responsible for most of the turquoise jewelry creation in the past – the Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni – have made such an incredible contribution to this art form over the centuries.

Detailed explanation-5: -“Turquoise stands for water and for sky, for bountiful harvests, health and protection, ” said Maxine McBrinn, Curator of Archaeology at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. “Blue-green symbolizes creation and the hope for security and beauty.