Verma Nequatewa — Hopi Jeweler, "Sonwai" & Her Mark
b. 1949, Hotevilla, Third Mesa. She signs her work with the Hopi word for beauty.
There is a masculine Hopi word for beauty — Loloma — and it belonged to the most influential Native jeweler of the twentieth century, Charles Loloma. There is also a feminine one: Sonwai, “the Hopi feminine word for beauty,” in Baxter’s gloss (Baxter 2000, p. 120). [4] Verma Nequatewa is his niece, she was his principal stone-setter for more than twenty years, and she and her sister first used “Sonwai” for show pieces in 1972–73 (Wright 2003, p. 87). [1] She isn't a jeweler influenced by Loloma. She is the one who carries his aesthetic forward — and she does it, still, from the studio he built.
The Smith
She was born in 1949 in Hotevilla, on Third Mesa, and she has never left. In the mid-1960s, when Loloma came home to Hotevilla, she began helping in his studio, and she stayed at that bench for over two decades, becoming his lead stone-setter — the one who cut and fit the inlay. "Charles taught that beauty is all around us on Hopi," she says, "in the environment, in the culture, in ceremony." When his studio closed in the late 1980s and Loloma died in 1991, she opened her own — working in and around his original studio space, continuing his teachings as her own. For part of that history she wasn't alone: her sister, the jeweler Sherian Honhongva, also trained under Loloma and worked beside her under the shared "Sonwai" mark until the two began signing separately in 1993.
The Work
Sonwai works the tradition Loloma opened up — fine hand-cut stone inlay raised in sculptural, height-relief settings of 18-karat gold and silver, a mosaic she describes as fitting "like a puzzle." Her palette runs deep: turquoise, coral, lapis, sugilite, opal, charoite, ironwood, fossilized ivory, and diamonds, and she tufa-casts as well as fabricates. What she'll tell you is that the stone leads. "Often, it is the stones that tell me what to do with the inlay," she says. "My role is to allow the stones to become what they can, in the way that they need to be." The result is unmistakably hers — a Sonwai aesthetic that grew out of Loloma's and stands on its own, its color and layered inlay often read as the rocky northern-Arizona landscape around her home.
The Mark
She signs "Sonwai," the word itself, rendered in a script hand-stamp rather than a pictograph or clan symbol (documented on pieces by Adobe Gallery). One note for collectors: because she and her sister Sherian shared the Sonwai mark from 1976 to 1993, a "Sonwai"-stamped piece from before 1993 may reflect either sister's hand — the sisters have signed separately since.
The Standing
In 2018 the Heard Museum named Sonwai its Moondance honoree — its flagship annual honor for a single major artist — and that same season mounted her first solo retrospective, Sonwai: The Jewelry of Verma Nequatewa, curated by the Heard's longtime jewelry curator Diana Pardue. Her work is now held in the Heard's Basha Family Collection (shown in Adorned with Memory, 2025–26) and at the Museum of Northern Arizona, and it is the subject of a monograph, Visions of Sonwai (2007), catalogued in the Smithsonian's library. She still shows at Santa Fe Indian Market, and still works on Third Mesa — in the studio her uncle built.
Know more about Verma? Contact T.Skies.
- Pardue, Diana F. Contemporary Southwestern Jewelry + Bahti, Mark. Silver + Stone.
- Sonwai — official artist site
- Verma Nequatewa (Sonwai) — first-person artist statement, SWAIA directory
- Beauty to Wear by Verma Nequatewa — Museum of Northern Arizona
- Sonwai, Verma Nequatewa (hallmark image) — Adobe Gallery
- Moondance honorees (2018: Sonwai) — Heard Museum
- Adorned with Memory (Basha Collection) — Heard Museum
From the Library: Wright, Hopi Silver (2003)
2003 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2003, not today.
According to Wright (2003, p. 65), Charles Loloma's nieces Verma Nequatewa and Sherian Honhongva worked among the helpers in his shop and excelled; when his health failed much of the shop's output was theirs, after his death they worked on their own as "Sonwai," and as of the 2003 edition they exhibited separately, each with her own style showing Loloma's influence. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 112), Verma's sister Sherian Honhongva used the Sonwai mark with Verma from 1989 to late 1993. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 87), Verma Nequatewa, of the Badger clan at Hotevilla, began silverwork in 1967 and was still working when the listing was last revised; she and her sister Sherian Honhongva worked with their uncle, Charles Loloma. Wright labels her mark 'Butterfly'. [1]
Wright's 2003 listing dates the Sonwai name this way:
“They first used "Sonwai" in 1972-73 for show pieces, and incorporated in 1989.”
— Wright (2003), p. 87 [1]
From the Library: Bassman, The Beauty of Hopi Jewelry (1993)
1993 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1993, not today.
As of 1993, Bassman (1993, p. 2) wrote that Verma Nequatewa and her sister Sherian Honhongva exhibited their jewelry under the name Sonwai, that their work was as eagerly sought after as their uncle Charles Loloma's, and that they had developed their own styles and were known internationally. [2]
Bassman (1993, p. 53) pictured a matching bola tie and belt buckle of 18-carat gold inlaid with coral and lapis lazuli, made in 1992 and credited to Sonwai. [2]
Bassman (1993, p. 54) pictured a matching set of gold jewelry, a pendant, a height bracelet and two rings inlaid with charoite, lapis lazuli, coral, turquoise and sugilite, made in 1990 and credited to Sonwai. [2]
From the Library: Ryan & Chambless, Turquoise in America Part Two: 1910–1990 (2020)
2020 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2020, not today.
Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 314) picture a Verma Nequatewa (Sonwai) bolo in their Lone Mountain gallery, noting that its turquoise came from Don Hoel's personal bolo. [3]
From the Library: Baxter, Encyclopedia of Native American Jewelry (2000)
2000 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2000, not today.
Baxter (2000) dated the Sonwai name:
“In 1989, the two sisters launched their own jewelry line under the name “Sonwai” (the Hopi feminine word for beauty). Nequatewa herself began to use the name “Sonwai” by the late 1990s, continuing her uncle’s legacy of imaginatively crafted and unique fine-art jewelry.”
— Baxter (2000), p. 120 [4]
As of 2000, Baxter recorded a family motif:
“Like her uncle, Nequatewa often uses the badger, or a badger-paw, as a design motif in honor of their Badger Clan membership.”
— Baxter (2000), p. 120 [4]
Baxter (2000) recorded an award:
“She won Best of Show at the 1995 SWAIA Indian Market.”
— Baxter (2000), p. 120 [4]
From the Library: Tryk, Santa Fe Indian Market (1993)
1993 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1993, not today.
Tryk (1993, p. 78) pictured a reversible pendant signed Sonwai, which she described as the work of a Hopi team of two nieces of Charles Loloma showing the influence of his teaching. [5]
From the Library: Schaaf, American Indian Jewelry I (2003)
2003 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2003, not today.
Schaaf (2003, p. 179), in its entry for her sister Sherian Honhongva, dated their collaboration under the trade name Sonwai, with a butterfly hallmark, to 1989-93, after which Sherian signed her own name. [6]
Schaaf (2003, p. 208) named Verma Nequatewa, with Raymond Kyasyousie, as a teacher of the Hopi jeweler Dorothy Poleyma. [6]
Schaaf (2003) entered her as
“Verma Nequatewa (Sonwai) (collaborated with Charles Loloma, Sherian Honhongva)”
— Schaaf (2003), p. 245 [6]
Schaaf (2003, p. 245) recorded Verma Nequatewa as Hopi, of Hotevilla, active from about 1967, a niece of Charles Loloma and a sister of Sherian Honhongva among others, educated at the Hopi Mission School, Hotevilla Day School, Hopi Day School and Phoenix Indian School, and the mother of Bryson Charles Nequatewa. [6]
Verma Nequatewa told Schaaf (2003):
“My jewelry comes from people and the place that have affected my thinking”
— Schaaf (2003), p. 245 [6]
Schaaf (2003, p. 245) quoted her as saying that she felt very fortunate to have apprenticed with her uncle, Charles Loloma, for many years. [6]
Field Notes by Mateo James
This page dates the shared Sonwai mark from 1976, and our Charles Loloma page says the sisters marked show pieces Sonwai as early as 1972-73. Wright (2003, p. 65) puts their working on their own as Sonwai after Loloma's death in 1991. Wright may be describing the independent business rather than the first use of the mark, but the dates differ as written.
Wright's own hallmark row gives 1972-73 for the first Sonwai show pieces and 1989 for the incorporation, while this page's collector note starts the shared mark in 1976. I have not found where the 1976 date comes from, so I show both.
Our page gives 1976 as the start of the shared Sonwai mark, while Wright's 2003 listing, in Sherian Honhongva's row, dates the sisters' shared use from 1989 to late 1993. The sources agree the sisters signed separately after 1993; they differ on when the shared mark began.
I notice one more date for the shared Sonwai mark. This page's collector note runs it from 1976 to 1993, while Schaaf's 2003 entry for Sherian dates the sisters' Sonwai and butterfly hallmark to 1989-93. All the books agree it ended in 1993, so a Sonwai piece from before then may be either sister's work.
Sources
- Wright, Margaret Nickelson. Hopi Silver: The History and Hallmarks of Hopi Silversmithing. Revised edition. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2003. Originally published by Northland Publishing. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2003.
- Bassman, Theda. The Beauty of Hopi Jewelry. Photography by Gene Balzer. Walnut, California: Kiva Publishing, 1993. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1993.
- Ryan, Mike, II, and Philip Chambless. Turquoise in America, Part Two: 1910–1990. Callais Press, 2020. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2020.
- 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.
- Tryk, Sheila. Santa Fe Indian Market: Showcase of Native American Art. Photography by Mark Nohl; introduction by Allan Houser. Santa Fe, NM: Tierra Publications, in cooperation with SWAIA (Southwestern Association on Indian Affairs), 1993. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1993.
- 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.
This profile is maintained in support of Native American silversmiths and compiled from published references. See something inaccurate, or want to add to it? Contact us.