Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild: History & the Horned-Moon Mark

The Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild was organized in September 1941 at Fort Wingate, New Mexico, with the older Wingate Guild as its nucleus (Bedinger 1973, p. 120; Hougart 2022, p. 18). In 1972 it became the Navajo Arts and Crafts Enterprise (NACE), based at Window Rock, Arizona, and wholly owned by the Navajo Nation (Hougart 2022, p. 18). Its horned-moon trademark was registered in 1943 and was still in use as of 2022 (Hougart 2022, p. 365). That mark names the organization that handled a piece, not the smith who made it. On its own, it proves nothing about who made the piece.

Founding: from Wingate to the Navajo Guild

The nucleus came first. "To provide employment for skilled former students, the Wingate Guild was formed at the Wingate Vocational High School by the Educational Division of the Navajo Service during the school year 1939-40" (Bedinger 1973, p. 120). Its members were graduates and other men and women from the vicinity, and Ambrose Roanhorse, who had taught silversmithing at the Santa Fe Indian School, was made director (Bedinger 1973, p. 120). Hougart places that appointment in 1939, the year Roanhorse demonstrated at the Golden Gate International Exposition (Hougart 2022, p. 267).

Who founded the larger Guild is disputed, and we won't pick a side. Bedinger writes that "In September 1941, the board organized the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild, using the Wingate Guild as a nucleus," meaning the Indian Arts and Crafts Board (Bedinger 1973, p. 120). Wright calls the Guild "a direct result of one of the projects" of that Board (Wright 2003, p. 31), and Hougart says the Board "helped to create" it (Hougart 2022, p. 267). Hougart also records the Board's denial. On March 7, 1940, Ethel Petty of the Board wrote to John Adair: "The Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild was not established by, and is not financed by, the Board" (Hougart 2022, p. 18). That letter predates the September 1941 organization. Our sources do not settle whether it refers to the Wingate-era group. What they agree on is the ground it grew from: Baxter calls the Fort Wingate school program "the impetus for the establishment of the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild" (Baxter 2000, p. 153).

The centers spread fast. One was set up at Pine Springs, Arizona, "a cooperative trading post owned by the Navajos, where the neighboring smiths and weavers could market their wares" (Bedinger 1973, p. 120). Bedinger ties Pine Springs to the 1941 founding; Hougart dates the Pine Springs facility to 1942 (Hougart 2022, pp. 18, 267). "The following year guild centers were organized in the Window Rock-Fort Defiance area, at Toadlena, and at Shiprock" (Bedinger 1973, pp. 120–121). Pine Springs already had silver history. Adair records that Roanhorse visited in the summer of 1937 for the Board and encouraged Tom Burnsides and other smiths there to work in the old style, and that Burnsides bought his silver slugs at the Pine Springs trading post (Adair 1944, pp. 56–57).

The business model was deliberate. The Guild aimed its work at "quality stores in the East, Middle West, and Southwest," avoided the tourist market, set a minimum-wage scale for graduates of its apprentice courses, and emphasized cast work (Bedinger 1973, p. 121, citing Kirk 1945). Not everyone liked it. Some traders resented the government subsidy, caught between cheap machine-made imitations and smiths who wanted higher pay (Bedinger 1973, p. 121).

People

"Ambrose Roanhorse, Chester Yellowhair and Fred Peshlakai helped form the Guild to provide a base from which students graduating from the silversmith classes at the Indian Schools could practice their newly acquired skills in the marketplace" (Hougart 2022, p. 18). Ambrose Roanhorse went on to set up centers at Window Rock, Toadlena and Shiprock (Hougart 2022, p. 267), and around 1940 he arranged a salesroom for the Guild where he sold silver from both the Guild and the school (Hougart 2020, p. 133). He directed the Wingate Guild. The only Navajo Guild director our sources name is Carl Gorman, from 1964 to 1966; Sam Harrison was Guild Manager in the mid-1950s (Hougart 2022, p. 18). Chester Yellowhair served with Roanhorse on the forming committee (Hougart 2022, p. 267), and Fred Peshlakai is named among the founders (Hougart 2022, p. 18).

The smiths show up in the maker files. Kenneth Begay ran the Guild store in Cameron, Arizona, for several years in the early 1960s (Hougart 2020, p. 13). Roger Skeet Jr. and his father made pieces "for the Navajo Guild in Window Rock, Arizona" (Bahti 2007, p. 167). After World War II, Frances Jones sold to the Guild among other buyers (Bahti 2007, p. 70). Gibson Nez remembered that "Betty Benally from the Navajo Guild let us sell our work from her booth" at a Santa Monica show (Bahti 2007, p. 128). Work by Tom Burnsides "May be marked with Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild stamp" (Hougart 2020, p. 17).

Marks and what to look for

The Navajo Guild was among the earliest organizations to stamp silver with "quality and identity marks," starting in 1941 (Hougart 2022, p. 8). Its Indian Arts and Crafts Board stamp was "US NAVAJO 70" (Hougart 2022, p. 12). Its registered trademark is the horned-moon symbol, registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 1943 (Hougart 2022, p. 18). In 1955 the Guild began urging members to use their own hallmarks (Hougart 2022, p. 18). Roger Skeet Jr. said he began stamping "R.S." about 1955 "when they [the Navajo Guild] started requiring it" (Bahti 2007, p. 167).

Read the marks this way:

  • A Guild stamp names the Guild, not the maker. "Guild silver, that is, work handled by this organization, is so marked" (Arizona Highways 1954, PDF p. 34). For the smith, look for a personal hallmark, which the Guild pushed from 1955.
  • No Guild mark does not mean not Navajo-made. The same writer notes the Guild could not reach every smith scattered over a sixteen-million-acre area (Arizona Highways 1954, PDF p. 34).
  • The horned moon is not proof. "The horned moon symbol has been seen on items not stamped at the Guild. Provenance and authenticity should be investigated when handling jewelry with the Guild mark" (Hougart 2022, p. 365).
  • The 1970s need extra care. Unable to fill large department-store orders, NACE bought "inferior jewelry from Gallup-based dealers" (Hougart 2022, p. 18). A piece sold through NACE in those years was not necessarily made in its shops.

Bedinger also describes shop-window placards naming an "Authorized Dealer" of the Guild's "Registered Trademark" (Bedinger 1973, p. 211). A placard identifies the dealer. It is not a maker's signature on the piece.

Later years

When the federal government dropped its part in the Board's work during World War II, the Navajo Tribal Council carried the work on and "felt the project should show a profit" (Bedinger 1973, p. 121). A 1955 Navajo yearbook report said: "The Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild is operating at a profit to the Tribe as a Tribal Enterprise, and the workmanship of guild products has gained widespread recognition" (Bedinger 1973, p. 121). In 1954, Arizona Highways wrote that the Guild "has made it a point to revive many of the old styles" and that "it has succeeded in supporting the creation of new styles as well" (Arizona Highways 1954, PDF pp. 30–31). It also allowed that the Guild "has had its 'ups and downs'" (Arizona Highways 1954, PDF p. 30).

As of 1973, the Guild worked from "a beautiful new building near Window Rock, Arizona," ran retail stores in several reservation centers, and employed craftsmen and a traveling salesman (Bedinger 1973, pp. 121, 200). In 1972 it evolved into the Navajo Arts and Crafts Enterprise and relocated to Window Rock (Hougart 2022, p. 18). So it was a tribal enterprise by 1955, and NACE from 1972. That same year Navajo President Peter MacDonald backed a plan to mass-produce jewelry, and NACE hired about 100 silversmiths. Assembly-style output lowered silver quality, eastern retailers rejected the low-quality jewelry, and NACE's reputation and business suffered. From 1977, new management and production standards restored quality, and profitability returned (Hougart 2022, p. 18).

As of Hougart's 2022 edition, NACE listed shops at Cameron, Chinle, Kayenta and St. Michaels, Arizona, and at Alamo, Gallup and Shiprock, New Mexico (Hougart 2022, p. 18). Our sources do not record which shops operate today, or when the Pine Springs, Toadlena and early Shiprock centers closed.

From the Library: Jacka, Navajo Jewelry: A Legacy of Silver and Stone (1995)

1995 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1995, not today.

Lois Essary Jacka, writing in 1995, on what the federal government did on the eve of war:

“In 1941 it did form the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild to emphasize quality work and encourage the casting of silver; consequently, the skills of many artists improved. The project had to be dropped during World War II, but the Navajo Tribe was allowed to take it over.”
— Jacka (1995), p. 26 [9]

As of 1995, Jacka recommended to visitors to Window Rock:

“Visit the Navajo Arts and Crafts Enterprises, operated by the tribe, which encourages and promotes craftsmanship, and assures high-quality products.”
— Jacka (1995), p. 120 [9]

From the Library: Adair, The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths (1944)

1944 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1944, not today.

Adair's 1944 table of important dates puts the first government quality stamp on Navajo silver in 1938:

“Indian Arts and Crafts Board inaugurated the stamping of quality silver with the mark U.S. Navajo.”
— Adair (1944), p. 193 [10]

Writing in 1944, Adair recorded the founding in two sentences:

“In September, 1941, the Indian Arts and Crafts Board established the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild. The Wingate Guild was used as a nucleus for this larger craft project.”
— Adair (1944), p. 209 [10]

According to Adair (1944, p. 209), the Guild promoted silver like that made at the Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Fort Wingate Indian schools, a revival of the old simple types of jewelry, mostly without stones, with the emphasis on cast work; in its first two years it was never able to fill all its orders. [10]

Just before the Guild began, Adair (1944) judged where the best silver of the day was being made:

“In my opinion the best of the silver that is being made today for the white consumer is produced in the shops of the Indian schools which are located at Santa Fé, Albuquerque, Fort Wingate, Shiprock, and Tuba City.”
— Adair (1944), p. 201 [10]

From the Library: Baxter, Encyclopedia of Native American Jewelry (2000)

2000 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2000, not today.

Baxter (2000) described Ambrose Roanhorse as

“a noted smith and educator, and the first director of the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild”
— Baxter (2000), p. 116 [11]

From the Library: Woodward, A Brief History of Navajo Silversmithing (1946)

1946 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1946, not today.

An editor's note in the 1946 second edition, Woodward (1946), described the Guild as of 1946:

“The Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild was established at Window Rock, Ariz. in 1941 to bring about improvement in silver (and rugs) by teaching craftsmen to make better quality products and to revive the old designs, and to find a market for finest quality material.”
— Woodward (1946), p. 49 [12]

On its mark, the same note in Woodward (1946):

“Guild products bear a registered trademark—a "Horned Moon."”
— Woodward (1946), p. 49 [12]

From the Library: June, Fred Harvey Jewelry 1900–1955 (2013)

2013 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2013, not today.

Captioning a tufa-cast Navajo Guild bracelet, June (2013, p. 95) wrote that the Guild emphasized tribal unity, that individual hallmarks were discouraged until late in the twentieth century, and that most Guild jewelry carries the same small horned emblem hallmark. [13]

Field Notes by Mateo James

I notice Lois Essary Jacka, writing in 1995, also credits the federal government with forming the Guild in 1941, as Bedinger (1973) does, while the letter Hougart quotes says the Board did not establish it. I have added her account beside the others without settling the question.

I notice two starting dates for quality stamps. Our page dates the Guild's quality and identity marks to 1941, while Adair's 1944 table says the Indian Arts and Crafts Board began stamping quality silver U.S. Navajo in 1938. They may be describing the Board's stamp and the Guild's own marks, so I show both.

Our page says the only Navajo Guild director its sources name is Carl Gorman, from 1964 to 1966. Baxter's 2000 encyclopedia calls Ambrose Roanhorse the first director of the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild, while Bedinger, quoted above, has him made director of the Wingate Guild that became its nucleus. The books may be naming one appointment two ways, so I show both.

This page says the Guild was organized in September 1941 at Fort Wingate, New Mexico. The editor's note in the 1946 edition of Woodward's bulletin says it was established at Window Rock, Arizona, in 1941. I show both places.

Our page says the Guild began urging members to use their own hallmarks in 1955. June, writing in 2013, said individual hallmarks were discouraged in the Guild until late in the twentieth century. I note the disagreement and show both accounts rather than choose one.

A note on accuracy. We strive for accuracy, and this page is continuously updated with new information from the artists, their families, and the community. Corrections welcome.

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Sources

  1. Bedinger, Margery. Indian Silver: Navajo and Pueblo Jewelers. University of New Mexico Press, 1973. pp. 120–121, 200, 211.
  2. Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th ed. 2022. pp. 8, 12, 18, 267, 365.
  3. Hougart, Bille. 100 Collectible Native American Silversmiths. 2020. pp. 13, 17, 133.
  4. Wright, Margaret Nickelson. Hopi Silver: The History and Hallmarks of Hopi Silversmithing, rev. ed. 2003. p. 31.
  5. Baxter. Encyclopedia of Native American Jewelry. 2000. p. 153.
  6. Bahti, Mark. Silver + Stone: Profiles of American Indian Jewelers. 2007. pp. 70, 128, 167.
  7. Adair, John. The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths. 1944. pp. 56–57.
  8. Arizona Highways, 1954 silver issue (article author not recorded in our copy). PDF pp. 30–31, 34.
  9. Jacka, Lois Essary. Navajo Jewelry: A Legacy of Silver and Stone. Photographs by Jerry Jacka. Flagstaff: Northland Publishing, 1995. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1995.
  10. Adair, John. The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths. The Civilization of the American Indian Series. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1944. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1944.
  11. Baxter, Paula A., with Allison Bird-Romero. Encyclopedia of Native American Jewelry: A Guide to History, People, and Terms. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 2000. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2000.
  12. Woodward, Arthur. A Brief History of Navajo Silversmithing. With field notes by Richard Van Valkenburgh. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin 14, 2d ed. Flagstaff: Northern Arizona Society of Science and Art, December 1946 (first edition 1938). Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1946.
  13. June, Dennis. Fred Harvey Jewelry 1900–1955. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2013. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2013.

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