Contemporary Pueblo Perspectives on Ancestral Jewelry Production: Views from Santo Domingo/Kewa and Zuni/A:shiwi Pueblos

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Exploring the Intersection of Ethnography and Technology: Understanding the Evolution of Human Technologies through Ethnographic Research" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

With the goal of understanding the deep history of jewelry making in the US Southwest, we are working collaboratively with Indigenous artists from Santo Domingo and Zuni Pueblos. This project involves three phases: 1) collections review of over 500 Ancestral Pueblo jewelry pieces and jewelry-making tools from New Mexico at the Maxwell Museum (MMA); 2) filming artists in their studios to explore contemporary jewelry production techniques; and 3) a co-curated exhibit at MMA that presents over 1,000 years Pueblo jewelry production continuity and change. Together with the artists, we have identified multiple themes: 1) Jewelry production is deeply rooted in the ancestral Pueblo past; 2) Adornment and jewelry-making are and always have been vital to the identity of Pueblo communities; 3) There are both continuities and significant changes in technology used to make jewelry over time; and 4) Jewelry-making is economically important to Pueblo artists. This project seeks to eliminate barriers between archaeologists and community members through collaboratively learning from traditional jewelry production. Artists will also make contemporary pieces for the exhibit inspired by ancestral jewelry. The co-curators will design the exhibit to highlight continuity, innovation, and change in this important art form in Pueblo communities across generations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Exploring the Intersection of Ethnography and Technology: Understanding the Evolution of Human Technologies through Ethnographic Research   •
• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52533