Authentic, Native American handmade.
Every piece of jewelry we sell is made by hand by a Native American artist. Here is who makes it, what it is made of, and why that matters.
Who makes the jewelry
Our jewelry is made by Native American artists, most of them from Santo Domingo (Kewa) Pueblo in New Mexico. Susan has known and traded with these families since 1977. She started by selling them the tools and materials they needed, and before long she was trading those supplies for their finished work.
We are not buying from a warehouse. We buy from people we know, and many of them we have known for decades — the Reano family, Lupe Lovato, Ronald Chavez, Deanna and Robert Tenorio, Warren and Christopher Nieto, Joanne and Joe Ray Garcia, and others. You can read about them on our artists page.
What it is made of
All of the materials are natural stone or shell. Turquoise, shell, jet, serpentine and coral, cut and polished by hand and strung or set by hand.
Heishe is the fine beadwork the Pueblo is known for. Each small bead is cut, drilled, strung and then rolled smooth against a grinding wheel until the whole strand runs even. A single necklace can hold hundreds of them. Inlay is the other signature technique: small pieces of stone and shell fitted tight against each other to build up a pattern in color.
Susan describes how the beads are made, and how she came to trade for them, in our story.
The Indian Arts and Crafts Act
The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 is a U.S. truth-in-advertising law. It makes it illegal to sell art as Native American made when it is not. We sell only work made by Native American artists we know personally, so we can tell you who made a piece and where it came from.
Windmill is a member of the Indian Arts and Crafts Association.
Questions about a piece
If you want to know more about a particular necklace — who made it, what the stones are, how it is strung — just ask. Call us at 877-875-3460 or email wtcsales@windmilltradingco.com. You can also use the contact form.
Have a look at the jewelry
Turquoise, heishe, shell and inlay, made by hand and chosen one piece at a time.