Coral.

Coral necklace.
Photograph by Venaya Yazzie 2013

This Navajo-made necklace was made by my grandmother using a type of sting called sinew (processed). It is a strong material and better to use instead of cotton or even polyester. Originally the sinew was made from the tendons of game animals such as deer.

This coral was acquired through a family friend and the heishe shell used as the spacer beads inbetween the coral pieces as bought from a local trader's shop. The necklace was finished by knotting the sinew to secure it and then it was wrapped in cotton string.

As you may know (or not) coral is a cultural item that has historically been favored among the Navajo and Pueblo people. Coral is a traditionally INDIGENOUS trade item that ancestor peoples traded from the southwest to other Pacific coast Indigenous groups in the past.  For the Dine', coral is a significant cultural item that is used in both social and ceremonial settings, and has great importance in Dine' Epistemology. Coral necklaces have historically been used to showcase wealth of and individual or also to exemplify the leadership skills of and individual in Navajo society.

In this current environmental state, coral has become an item that is very difficult to get. Due to pollution in the Pacific ocean near the Baja of California many of the coral is not growing healthy or at time is found to be bleached white, so alot of the coral in the markets are dyed.