Turquoise Mountain

Mount Taylor, New Mexico
Photo credit http://vistarezdoc.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/which-clan-are-you-from/

Tsoodzil is what the Navajo know Mount Taylor as. This peak is located near Grants, NM measures at 11,301 elevation and is nestled to the north of the Acoma/Laguna Pueblo.

Tsoodzil is the turquoise mountain to the Navajo, it holds much important significance for the People. Most of what the blue hue concerns originated and lives at this sacred place including the blue bird and blue swallow.

The mountain is sacred to the Navajo, it is often visited and viewed as a major part of the Dine' epistemology.

This place has been under major issues due to corporate global entities who want to begin Uranium mining in the area.

Díí dzíł t’óónizhoni’ah.

Navajo 1920s bracelet1920s

1920s Navajo made bracelet

This example of a Navajo-made silver and turquoise bracelet is an beautiful display of true southwest Indigenous asthetic.
I really like this bracelet for its simple, yet very complex design. Amazing!

Good word from Rita Gilmore.

"Wearing my silver jewelry for strength, my 

turqouise for blessings & friendship and my 

white shell necklace for my spiritual 

foundation. Long ago our ancestors honored 

the white shell necklaces..when one wears 

the white shell necklace its an homage to

 White Shell Woman..If you look at the

 pictures taken of our ancestors during the 

1800's before the Long Walk you'll see them

 all wearing white shell necklaces..."

_Rita Gilmore_2014

Sleeping Beauty Turquoise ring.

Turquoise and sterling silver ring.
Photo by Venaya Yazzie
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2014

Living near the northwestern region of the Navajo Nation near the Shiprock, New Mexico community, I make and effort to visit the Shiprock Market place on the weekends. Usually open Friday through Sunday the open market hosts a plethora of goods from organic plant herbs to buckskin bags to items made in China and of course turquoise and silver jewelry items.

This ring is a recent purchase I made. It was made by a Navajo silversmith from the area, though I cannot recall her name, she stamped her work with a "P." I was drawn to her jewelry pieces because of their unique design. Included in her ring collection was beautiful bracelets too.

This ring is made by her own design from sterling silver and Sleeping Beauty turquoise stones. The stones are intentionally left raw, only polished and then set into the handmade bezels. I adore the simplicity of this ring's design as it reminds me of the old Navajo jewelry designs of the 1930s era.

The "cube" effect this ring radiates is clever because it is due the round-ness of the stones and how they are set among each other. Also the small silver drops are a nice compliment and continue the effect of movement.

Since I purchased this ring for my collection I have worn it most everyday, even on my morning treks. I always feel a sense of balance and goodness when I adorn myself with turquoise and silver jewelry. Turquoise, or as we call it "dootłíizhi " is the essence of Navajo wellness and balance.

Perpetuate the Beauty Way.

blessings, vj

Male, Female Adornment

Navajo Woman

Navajo man.

Old School Navajo earrings.

Antique Navajo silver and turquoise earrings

These earrings are antique pieces I am guessing where made in the early twentieth century. Via historical photographs I have see such earring designs on men, which was a common practice. The design of these earrings lends to the half-moon shape that is now used in the Navajo Squash Blossom necklace.

Pan-Indin' Adornment.21st century.

Powwow Adornment
Photo property of Venaya Yazzie 2014

The ways of Indigenous adornment in the southwest goes beyond silver and turquoise, for their are those such as I that participate in the 21st cultural ways of the powwow circle.

My family has always been very multi-cultural, we have family members of many ethnic backgrounds, including different tribal groups. My step-father is a member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa tribe of North Dakota, and from him I learned and danced the way of his people. I am a Jingle Dress dancer and he is a Northern Traditional dancer.

This photograph depicts the Indigenous Adornment of the powwow people living in the Four Corners area. My dad and I were photographed by a traveling photographer at a powwow on the Jicarilla Apache Nation.

Seeking and continuing hozho........

Today, the second day of the second month of the american calendar system is where I find myself- sitting at the computer monitor.

I am thinking much about the earth and how this culture of money and greed is destroying her. I am burdened greatly by this, as I think of her daily. She is what our body needs, she is what our minds grow from. And so I too find myself thinking of my cheii', my papa and how his presence is necessary for balance in my life.

I think my heart is still broken and daily mending for the loss of my paternal grandfather. He was my friend, he was also my father in many ways. I miss him daily. His absence in my life, in the live of my family is immense. When I look at the calendar it reads ' February,' but what I here is my grandfather's voice expressing, 'Atsa'bi'yaazh.' The expression is not a noun, or a pronoun it implies the verb. The language of my people is always about movement, and the perpetuation of attaining 'hozho.' For some this is called 'beauty' or the 'beauty way,' for me it is living a good life; mentally, spiritually, physically. Therefore, this is the season of the birth of eaglets, it is what my Dine' people understand and know.

It's been awhile since I have posted here, but I do plan on posting more. I am still everyday in awe of my Dine' People, though we are strickened with social ills and loss of our ways, we still have instilled in us the land. We still, many of us, have great love and adoration for her as our Mother, as our constant. She is our grandfathers and she is our grandmothers walking this holy earth. Remember her, she knows your smile.

Blessings in the new season all around you.

Seeking and continuing hozho......

vj