Squash Blossom Necklace

This necklace reflects the global sources for Diné jewelry. Elongated beads mimic pomegranate-flower ornaments from Islamic North Africa and Spain. Reproduced in southwestern North America, this motif became known as a squash blossom, named after a plant native to North America. By the mid-19th century, Diné men learned silver casting, forging, filing, and stamping from Spanish-speaking smiths in the Southwest. This knowledge and material altered ancient practices of southwestern jewelry making, which previously focused on shell and stones such as turquoise.

Diné peoples wear silver jewelry as symbols of wealth. By the 1890s, smiths also began to make works for the souvenir market in the Southwest.