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Native american jewelry and crafts
Native American Jewelry and crafts are hand made pieces of art created by the Native American people. Most of the Native American Jewelry and crafts that one may see has many different animals on them, which include wolves, eagles, buffalo, turtles, and some are even made from snake vertebrae. They are usually made from real leather and sterling silver are the choice materials for a piece to be made from because they are more durable and are really quite gorgeous when someone eyes the piece. Of the many Native Americans that are around, more than twenty percent still reside in the southwest area. The more popular tribes are the Hopi, Navajo, the Apache, and Zuni tribes. One of the most ancient crafts is that of basket weaving. There are three techniques used in basket weaving. The three include plaiting, coiling, and twining. The Mohawks, Cherokee from the Eastern and Western parts, Winnebago’s, and Passamaquoddy use the method of plaiting. Plaiting is the simplest technique used and is used by weaving under and over the pattern. Coiling is basically using a fixed element and that is wrapped around a more flexible element. The Hopi and the Eskimo use primarily this method in their craft of basket weaving. Twining is using at least two flexible elements. There must be two elements with this method or it will not work and those elements are used and twisted between each one of the stiff elements. Aside from the use of weaving as one of the Native American jewelry and crafts, pottery is another highly collectible item and has been very prominent for the Pueblos for the last two thousand years. Throughout that time, the craft has been handed down to each generation and is sought out for by collectors who pay a very good price for such items. The most interesting thing about the Pueblo potters is that they do not use a wheel at all when forming their artwork. They are so unique and highly gifted in what they do that they do not need the wheel at all. They also love to make animals and other figures out of their pottery. Animals are very much an ongoing theme in the Native Americans jewelry and crafts. It is truly awesome and amazing how much they respect the animals and love them. Even through the 21st century that we are now in, the government sees a need to hold on to this important culture as they offer classes for untrained Native Americans who do not know how to make pottery.
