Badger or Bear Paws, (badger seen here -- longer claws) usually considered a way of summoning the power of the animal spirit, or as an indication of the presence of the spirit.  Badgers are revered as healing animals and as tenacious hunters.  Their tracks may signify health and strength. Bear Paws/Tracks are also symbols of authority and leadership.



Wolf Tracks, or any other predators tracks usually signify a direction rather than simply the spirits presence.  These also are a clan short hand indication of kinship -- "wolf clan", for example.  Also symbols of authority and leadership.



Deer Tracks, are symbols of prosperity, safety, shelter, and also of the proximity to prey.  Also used as a directional indicator, and as a clan symbol.

Clouds, Rain and Lightning, in addition to representing themselves, are also important symbols  change, renewal and fertiltiy. Closely related is snow, which is considered even more of a blessing than rain.



The Morning Star, brightest star on the horizon at dawn, is considered an important spirit and is honored as a kachina among most Pueblos.  The Plains and Great Basin people honor it as a sign of courage and purity of spirit.  The Ghost Dance Religion used it as a symbol of the coming renewal of tradition and resurrection of the heroes of the past. Most other spirits are represented as stars under some circumstances.



The Sun, giver of life, warmth, growth, all that is good.  This is a style of showing the sun as the face of a kachina mask.  Similar styles are seen throughout the Southwestern Indian cultures.  May or may not also show "rays" signifying the four directions.

The Zia, named for Zia Pueblo, who first used it, this is another symbol of the sun, and also of the four directions and the circle of life on earth.  It also may be connected with the place of emergence, the sipapu, in stories.  When New Mexico became a State, in 1912, the Zia was adopted as the symbol for the State Flag.  It appears as the sun in red, to honor the Indian Nations, on a yellow field (yellow was the royal color of the Spanish crown carried by the conquistador Coronado in 1540, the date of his entrance into New Mexico, at Zuni and the first recorded European contact with North American Indian people) and flys outside our gallery's front door.



Life and Choice, depicted in this common symbol, "the-man-in-the-maze" was originally created as an illustration of an emergence story by the Tohono o'odham or Papago Indians of the Central Valley in Arizona. TRhe little man is named "U'ki'ut'l" in their language. It has been adopted by other people because it is significant of life's cycles and eternal motion and also of the choices we are confronted with. The right choices lead us to a point of harmony with all things, no matter how hard or long the road taken.  This symbol is especially utilized by Hopi silversmiths as a way to showcase the quality of their technique.

Navajo Yeii Spirit, is a depiction of a irit considered by the Navajo to be a go-between between man and the creator.  Yeiis control natural forces in and on the earth, such as day and night, rain, wind, sun, etc.  A very special kind of yeii is the Yei'bi'chai, grandparent spirit or "talking God" who can speak with man, telling him how to live in harmony with all living things by following a few rules of behavior and using only the basic things he needs to survive.  A symbol of the harmony acheived is the "Rainbow Man", a yeii controlling the rainbow, who gives beauty to those in harmony.



Kokopelli, the seed bringer and water-sprinkler(a reference to his male anatomy), is a common fertility symbol throughout the Southwest.  His image is found in petroglyph art particularly in the fourcorners area and along the gorges of the San Juan River in Northern New Mexico and Colorado.  He is a personage who is honored as a kachina by most Pueblo cultures.  He is associated with fertility, the male principal and physiology, and the concept of the significance of protecting seeds.  Usually depicted as old, bent under his heavy load, he visits various communitys, impregnating the young women drawn to the tones of his flute playing.  He is also related to the cricket, or locust, whose natural music is connected with specific hunidity and seasonal temperatures.  There are many, very ribald stories of his various exploits.  When carved as a kachina doll, he usually has a staff, not a flute, but is also carved hunchbacked.  Before the missionaries came to the Hopi mesas in the 1930's, his kachina disguise and tihu doll also featured exaggerated male sexual organs although this practicve has been curtailed in recent years.  Today, he is considered the ambassaor of the Southwest, a much less colorful job, by tourists and visitors.

The Twins, depicted in almost every emergence/creation story among the Southwestern Indian people.  The twins are usually depicted as boys or small men who heroically overcam great odds to protect the people from monsters, drought, attack from other beings, animals, or many other problems.  They illustrate the concept of duality: in life, in the natural world, everything exists in balance -- male/female, large/small, light/dark, good/evil.  Here they are depicted as Father Sky/Mother Earth, from a Navajo sand painting.



The Hand, represents the presence of man, his work, his acheivements, his legacy.  It also represents the direction of the creative spirit through a man, as a vessel for the Creators power.

Weaving Pattern, (Klagetoh Community Style) Navajo weavers create beautiful, bold patterns which are at least partially derived from the physical limitations of the vertical loom.  These patterns are often found in other arts, such as jewelry or pottery.  They often combine many symbols of the natural world.



Weaving Pattern, (Storm Style), Navajo. Many of the Navajo patterns are followed closely by weaving families, while other designs are created fresh each time. Some designs are also similar to designs seen in Plains Beadwork and painting.



Border Patterns are used by weavers and silversmiths to establish boundaries and as designs in their own right.  The Hopi silversmiths, especially, have made great use of these foreground/background patterns in their overly jewelry. Many of the recurring spirals and whorls are connected with beansprouts, life springing out, cylces of life, and eternal renewal.  We call this one "Greek key".

Border Pattern, Spirals, whirlwinds, renewal, water.



Border Pattern, kiva steps, or Clouds, direction and change.



Border Pattern, Wedding Basket, Man/Woman, Cloud Points, Night/Day and Mountains/Sky.

Border Pattern, Waves, spirals, water and cycles, life and renewal.



Border Pattern, composite.  Many of these are combinations of many symbols, joined by the artist.  This one contains elements of water, birds, spirals and prayers. Complex designs like this, in repetition are showcases for the best Hopi silversmithing.

MAN/life



WATERHOUSE



CACTUS/Sign of Desert

DAYS-NIGHTS/time



SNAKE/Defiance



BIRD/Free of Worry