Diego Ramos — Isleta Silversmith
Diego Ramos was a blacksmith before he was a silversmith. Margery Bedinger's Indian Silver: Navajo and Pueblo Jewelers, drawing on John Adair, calls him "an Isleta" who in 1908 "made Laguna his home in that year, set up a silversmithing shop, and worked for a number of years," adding that "He is said to have been the first Laguna smith to set turquoise" (Bedinger 1973, p. 167).
Bedinger traces how he learned. After his wife died around 1884, he left Isleta for Peralta, where a man named Valencenio showed him how to form silver; at Silver Creek, Arizona, a Hopi silversmith showed him how to set stones, and Diego showed him wire-bending in return (Bedinger 1973, pp. 169–170). He returned to Isleta, where he died in 1918 (Bedinger 1973, p. 170).
William and Sarah Turnbaugh, in Indian Jewelry of the American Southwest, also describe him as originally from Isleta, and date his turquoise setting to after about 1910 (Turnbaugh and Turnbaugh 2007, p. 66).
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References
- Bedinger, Margery. Indian Silver: Navajo and Pueblo Jewelers. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1973.
- Turnbaugh, William A., and Sarah Peabody Turnbaugh. Indian Jewelry of the American Southwest. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2007 (first published 1988).
- 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.
- Schaaf, Gregory, with Angie Yan Schaaf. American Indian Jewelry I: 1,200 Artist Biographies, ca. 1800-present. American Indian Art Series, Vol. 5. Santa Fe: CIAC Press, 2003. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2003.
From the Library: Adair, The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths (1944)
1944 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1944, not today.
Adair (1944) took the story down from Marcelino Abeita, who began:
“Diego Ramos Abeita, my father's brother, was a silversmith.”
— Adair (1944), p. 180 [3]
According to Adair (1944, p. 180), Pablo Abeita of Isleta told him that the smith's name was simply Diego Ramos and that he was not an Abeita. [3]
Marcelino Abeita told Adair (1944) what Diego first worked with at Peralta:
“At first he used the Spaniard's tools: a pair of bellows, a blowpipe, clay crucibles, and a pair of fine pliers, with which he bent the wire around the outside of earrings.”
— Adair (1944), p. 181 [3]
On the move to Laguna, Marcelino Abeita told Adair (1944):
“In 1908, after a visit at Zuñi, he came back to this region, and settled down here at Laguna, where he worked at silver.”
— Adair (1944), p. 182 [3]
From the Library: Schaaf, American Indian Jewelry I (2003)
2003 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2003, not today.
Schaaf (2003) entered him as
“Diego Ramos (Diego Ramos Abeita (1))”
— Schaaf (2003), p. 268 [4]
Schaaf (2003, p. 268) recorded Diego Ramos as Isleta, born about 1855 and active from 1885 to 1918 in traditional silver jewelry and as a blacksmith, living at Isleta, Peralta and Laguna, an uncle of Marcelino Abeita, and taught by Juan Andres Apodoca, a Spaniard. [4]
Schaaf (2003) wrote:
“Around 1886, Diego moved to Silver Creek, Arizona.”
— Schaaf (2003), p. 268 [4]
Schaaf (2003) continued:
“Here he herded sheep with a Hopi silversmith who taught Diego how to set stones in silver.”
— Schaaf (2003), p. 268 [4]
Schaaf (2003) added:
“Around 1908, Diego visited Zuni Pueblo.”
— Schaaf (2003), p. 268 [4]
Field Notes by Mateo James
The dates on this page differ by a few years. Marcelino Abeita told Adair (1944, p. 182) that Diego learned stone setting from a Hopi sheepherder at Silver Creek, Arizona, before he settled at Laguna in 1908, where he was, as far as Marcelino knew, the first smith to set turquoise. The Turnbaughs date his turquoise setting to after about 1910. I note both rather than choose.
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I notice the books date his stone setting differently. Turnbaugh places his turquoise setting after about 1910, while Schaaf's 2003 register, like Bedinger's account on this page, has him learning to set stones from a Hopi smith at Silver Creek around 1886. I show both as printed.