Navajo Art - Native American Indian arts and crafts,
Navavo Indian jewelry, Indian blankets and Navavo rugs, Indian
pottery, and American Indian baskets.
In 1872 one of the first Navajo silversmiths, Atsidi Chon, came to Zuni to make silver jewelry for sale ( Adair 1944:121-28).In return for the hospitality of a Zuni named Lanyade, Atsidi taught him how to make silver ornaments. When Atsidi returned to Navajo country after a year, Lanyade was the only silversmith at Zuni. After Lanyade taught several other Zunis to make silver jewelry, the craft began to spread through the village. In time the Zuni developed a distinctive style of lapidary work, which emphasizes the turquoise rather than the silver by using many small settings of precisely cut, well-matched stones.