NAVAJO SILVERSMITHS. 



By Washcngton Matthews. 



Among the Navajo Indians there are many smiths, who sometimes 

 forge iron and brass, bnt who work chiefly in silver. When and how 

 the art of working metals was introdnced among them I have not been 

 able to determine ; but there are many reasons for supposing that they 

 have long possessed it; many believe that they are not indebted to the 

 Europeans for it. Doubtless the tools obtained from American and 

 Mexican traders have influenced their art. Old white residents of the 

 Navajo country tell me that the art has improved greatly within their 

 recollection ; that the ornaments made fifteen years ago do not compare 

 favorably with those made at the present time; and they attribute this 

 change largely to the recent introduction of flue flies and emery-i)aper. 

 At the time of the Conquest the so-called civilized tribes of Mexico had 

 attained considerable skill in 'the working of metal, and it has been 

 inferred that in the same period the sedentary tribes of New Mexico 

 also wrought at the forge. From either of these sources the flrst smiths 

 among the Navajos may have learned their trade ; but those who have 

 seen the beautiful gold ornaments made by the rude Indians of British 

 Columbia and_ Alaska, many of whom are allied in language to the 

 Navajos, may "doubt that the latter derived their art from a people 

 higher in culture than themselves. 



The appliances and processes of the smith are much the same among 

 the Navajos as among the Pueblo Indians. But the Pueblo artisan, 

 living in a spacious house, builds a permanent forge on a frame at such 

 a height that he can work standing, while his less fortunate Navajo 

 confrere, dwelling in a low hut or shelter, which he may abandon any 

 day, constructs a temporary forge on the ground in the manner here- 

 after described. Notwithstanding the greater disadvantages nnder 

 which the latter labors, the ornaments made by his hand are generally 

 conceded to be equal or even superior to those made by the Pueblo 

 Indian. 



A large majority of these savage smiths make only such simple arti- 

 cles as buttons, rosettes, and bracelets ; those who make the more 

 elaborate articles, such as powder-chargers, round beads (PI. XVI), 

 tobacco cases, belts, and bridle ornaments are few. Tobacco cases, 

 made in the shape of an army canteen, such as that represented in 



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