Zuni Fetishes and their meanings

The Mountain Lion (Long Tail) was appointed as Master of the gods of prey and guardian of the North. Stout-hearted and strong-willed. Po'-shai-an K'ia designated that he would become the Maker of Paths(of men's lives) and his color would be yellow, the color of his coat.
The Black Bear (Clumsy Foot) became the Master of the West for his coat was the color of the night. The Bear's color is the Blue of the Pacific and he is revered for his strong Healing powers and abilities to protect and provide for his charges.
The Badger (Black Marked Face) was appointed Guardian of the South and his color is the Red of the distant mountains. He is highly regarded for his perseverance in the face of adversity.
The East was assigned to the Wolf (Hang Tail) and his color the white of the daylight. The Wolf is extremely loyal and possesses the cunning to fend off one's enemies.
The Mole, Master of the lower region, exhibits flexibility and fidelity. His color is black. The mole's burrowing ability illustrates why he is revered. He has the flexibility to change direction at a moment's notice to avoid danger and his burrows often become traps for his predators.
The Eagle (White Cap) guards the Upper region. The Eagle represents all colors and is said to be indefatigable. He tirelessly flies around his domain preserving its openness. He symbolizes free spiritedness.
The Zuni believe that their carved effigies of these animals embody the same traits and powers as their living forms and can provide their possessors with similar traits if their likenesses are well cared for by those bearing them. Read more about Zuni Fetishes here http://www.agalleryofnations.com/understandfetish_.html

Native Art

Just wanted to share a bit of history about the Grandmother Fetish Necklace. The one shown here is a piece by the Quandelacy Family of artists from Zuni Pueblo,NM. The fetish necklace is called Grandmother because the first one made by the Quandelacy family was a gift for Ellen Quandelacy,the head of the family. Many members of the family including Faye,Georgia,Albenita,Andres and Brian,have carved the animals and brought them to Faye to make this beautiful necklace. The center pendent is a Turquoise Corn Maiden on one side and a Grandmother "the wise elder" on the opposite side. There is a Jet bear inlaid with a sunface design.A shell turtle with very fine details,a smaller corn maiden with exquisite carving in such a small piece,the turquoise mountain lion has a coral heart line and eyes highly polished. The Mother of Pearl Eagle is beautiful in its lines carved on its wings. You can even feel each kernel on the piece of corn. Some of the stones used are Spiny oyster shell,Jet,Turquoise.

At http://www.agalleryofnations.com/Necklaces_.html Is another wonderful Fetish Necklace carved by Lena Boone one of Zuni Pueblo's premier artists. This necklace is of Fossilized Walrus Ivory and has 21 carved animals. Look close at the Hummingbirds. Lena is very proud of these. As Lena has said it takes a skilled and steady hand and patience because many times the stones being carved just break its such a small piece to work on. The animals are strung on very dark rich red coral beads, a nice contrast to the Ivory.

Come by and visit and see more examples of beautiful Jewelry by Zuni Artists at

http://www.agalleryofnations.com/earrings1.html

What an Honor

What a great time I had, visiting family at Zuni.I really felt it was time to catch up with all the family news. I stayed with Lena at Blackrock,because her house by the family group of homes was being remodeled. We laughed and told stories and I was introduced to extended family members. Lots of beautiful babies,all the babies get much attention,I really can't remember a crying uncomfortable baby.Just big brown eyes taking in all the activities.
One lazy afternoon as we all sat in Dinah's backyard,we talked about my Aunt Edna, Dinah, Lena and Sandra's mom. I have several of Edna's fetish bowls and I was interested in finding out more about the bowls. Since Sandra helped her mom, I thought she might be the next person to carry the tradition of making the fetish bowls. After a short silence Sandra started by saying no I don't think so because of all the time and work involved with each piece. Well that just increased my interest. I had to ask what work? Please tell me more. Sandra in her very soft voice said well,I would have to grind down the turquoise, to get it the right size,and sometimes the stones didn't want to be crushed. The turquoise has to be very fine. Then comes the washing of the stones and picking out all the discolored ones and odd sizes. Again Sandra said lots of work. Then there is more washing,the turquoise has to be very clean for the adhesive to work. The adhesive was a recipe of ingredients that Aunt Edna had made up, I didn't ask Sandra or Lena if they know the ingredients.I'll leave that as a family secret. All the fetishes on the bowls were carved by Edna. I have an example of one bowl here http://www.agalleryofnations.com/pottery.html I am very honored to have Fetish bowls that my Aunt Edna made. As we sat and chatted about the art work being done by the family I asked who is all carving now. Lena said almost all of the family. The list of carvers is growing and the younger ones are now working on fetishes. The sense of family history and style of carving is being carried on today and can be seen in the work of Debra Gasper,Evalena Boone,Leland Boone,Micheal Weahkee,Peter Gasper Jr. all the old style that Grandfather Teddy Weahkee did in the early 1950s. As the afternoon went on I felt a quiet loneliness of the family that miss their mother and my Aunt Edna. I just wanted to share a little about Zuni
Fetish bowls.