Laguna

Laguna Pueblo lies west of Albuquerque along the route of present-day Interstate 40 in New Mexico. Formally established in 1699 in the aftermath of the Pueblo Revolt — when families from several Keresan communities gathered at the site — it is one of the younger pueblos by date of founding, yet its Keresan-speaking people carry ancestral ties to the region that reach far deeper into the past.

Laguna shares its Keresan language and much of its cultural and artistic heritage with neighboring Acoma, and the two pueblos' traditions are closely intertwined, from pottery design to jewelry. The pueblo is not a single village but a federation of six: Old Laguna, Mesita, Paguate, Encinal, Paraje, and Seama, spread across mesa and river-valley country along the Rio San José.

Within the broad Puebloan jewelry tradition, Laguna artisans contribute work marked by clean silverwork and classic turquoise-and-silver combinations, drawing on the shared Keresan design vocabulary while developing their own contemporary expression. The pueblo has long balanced the preservation of tradition with engagement in the wider world, and that measured outlook is reflected in the restraint and refinement of its art.

Laguna jewelry favors clarity and balance. Artisans work in sterling silver and turquoise, producing classic Southwestern forms — cuffs, rings, pendants, and necklaces — alongside more contemporary designs that combine multiple stones and materials. The character is understated and refined, a measured counterpoint to the boldest Southwestern styles.

The geometric and naturalistic motifs of Laguna pottery and textiles inform the pueblo's jewelry, lending it the same disciplined sense of pattern that characterizes Keresan art more broadly. Shell and bead work also have a long history at Laguna, connecting its makers to the wider Rio Grande lapidary tradition.

Because Laguna and Acoma share so much, Laguna jewelry sits comfortably within the elegant, fine-line Keresan aesthetic — jewelry that honors ancestral design while remaining quietly wearable, prizing proportion and finish over density of ornament.

As a Keresan pueblo, Laguna shares deep cultural and ceremonial ties with Acoma, and its art reflects the same rootedness in place, clan, and the agricultural and ceremonial rhythms of pueblo life. Design motifs carry meanings connected to water, weather, corn, and the land that sustains the six villages.

Laguna is also known for balancing cultural preservation with thoughtful community development, sustaining the conditions in which traditional arts can continue alongside contemporary life. Artistic skill passes through families and is exercised both for the community and for the wider market, with younger makers carrying Keresan design into new forms.

Humiovi presents Laguna work with respect for this Keresan heritage and for the artisans who keep it alive across the pueblo's many villages.

Laguna jewelers employ standard Puebloan silversmithing methods — sheet fabrication, soldering, stampwork, and stone setting — to build clean, well-proportioned pieces. Turquoise and other stones are set in hand-cut bezels, often accented with restrained stamped detail and oxidized recesses that lift the design.

Traditional bead-making and stone cutting also remain part of the pueblo's repertoire, with some artisans producing strands and inlaid work in the broader Rio Grande and Keresan manner, drawing on the same lapidary inheritance shared across the pueblos.

Many contemporary Laguna makers bridge old and new, marrying ancestral motifs to modern fabrication for jewelry that reads as both traditional and current — disciplined in line, careful in finish, and unmistakably Puebloan in feeling.

Authenticating Laguna jewelry follows the same principles as other Puebloan silverwork: look for solid sterling, hand-cut bezels, genuine stone with natural matrix, hand stampwork, and the evidence of true fabrication rather than casting or glued settings. Natural turquoise shows real depth and variation; ask whether a stone is natural, stabilized, or reconstituted.

Because Laguna and Acoma traditions are so closely linked, knowledgeable sellers attribute by the maker rather than by style alone; many Laguna artisans sign their work, which aids attribution.

Laguna artisans participate in regional Indian markets and juried shows. The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 protects the authenticity of jewelry sold as Laguna-made, as it does for all federally recognized tribes, reserving the designation for the genuine work of enrolled members. Each Laguna piece at Humiovi is genuine, artist-made work and arrives with a Certificate of Authenticity for you to keep. We welcome questions about the maker and the materials in any piece.