Sterling Silver Pendant - 1.25x2 in.

The largest Native nation in the United States and the founders of Southwestern silversmithing — bold silver and turquoise from Diné Bikéyah.

For the Diné, silver and turquoise are far more than ornament. Turquoise — dootłʼizhii — is a protective and sacred stone woven through Navajo ceremony, song, and the creation narratives of the Holy People. It is associated with sky, water, and blessing; to wear it is to carry a piece of the living landscape and the harmony, or hózhó, that Diné life seeks to maintain. Jewelry also functions as portable wealth and as a record of family. Pieces are pawned and redeemed, inherited, and worn at ceremonies, dances, weddings, and gatherings as expressions of status, identity, and belonging. A great deal of the finest Navajo work was never made for sale at all — it was made to be worn by the maker's own family, and "old pawn" that was never reclaimed is prized today precisely because it was made to Native standards rather than for the tourist trade. The craft is typically learned within families and at the bench, passed from one generation to the next. To buy Navajo jewelry is to participate in a living economy that has sustained Diné households for a century and a half. Humiovi presents Navajo work with respect for this depth of meaning, honoring the artisans and the cultural continuity their work represents rather than reducing it to decoration. Certain pieces carry particular weight within a family. A squash blossom necklace or a fine concho belt is often a household's signal heirloom, worn at ceremonies, weddings, and major life events and handed down deliberately from one generation to the next. To receive or inherit such a piece is to receive a measure of the family's history along with the silver. This is part of why the very best Navajo work has always been made first for the maker's own people, to Diné standards rather than to the expectations of the tourist trade — and why a piece made in that spirit, even when it eventually reaches the market, carries an integrity that mass production cannot imitate.

Cared for thoughtfully, a handcrafted piece is meant to last generations. A few essentials for this one:

• Sterling silver

  Buff with a soft polishing cloth — leaving intentional oxidation intact — and store airtight to slow tarnish.

• Last on, first off

  Put your piece on after fragrance, lotion, and hairspray — and take it off before water, sleep, and sport.

• Store with care

  Keep each piece in its own soft pouch, away from direct sun and damp, so softer stones never meet harder ones.