Tag: Indian Arts & Crafts Board

Indian Arts and Crafts Board Silver Stamping Program 1938-1943

The Indian Arts and Crafts Board (IACB), an agency of the Department of the Interior, was formally established in 1936 to aid in the revitalization and promotion of traditional Native American arts. The preservation of traditional southwest Indian silverwork was one of the most urgent issues to be addressed by the board.

Bracelets (1938–1943), all marked U.S.NAVAJO  by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board. The designating numbers were 4 for Fred Harvey Company (top); 40 for Fort Wingate Indian School (far left and bottom right); and 2 for C. G. Wallace (second from left front and far right).

Competition from machine manufactured Indian-design jewelry, such as was made by Maisel’s, Bell Trading Post, H.H. Tammen, etc, was making it nearly impossible for individual Indian silversmiths to make a living. A series of meetings held by the board resulted in a program by which genuine handmade Navajo, Pueblo, and Hopi silver could obtain a stamp of authenticity from the government. An announcement, made in March 1937, set forth the standards by which jewelry could qualify for the stamp, and that the stamp “should be applied only to the finest quality of wholly genuine, truly hand-fashioned and authentic Indian silver and turquoise products.”

Two silver pins, both stamped with Indian Arts and Crafts Board mark U.S.NAVAJO 60, indicating they were made at the Santa Fe Indian School, 1938–1943.

The IACB silver stamping program has been examined at length by Jonathan Batkin in his excellent book The Native American Curio Trade in New Mexico. Batkin explains how this program adopted hallmarks that were stamped on silver individually produced and entirely handmade (no power-driven machinery could be used) from silver slugs hammered to shape; the turquoise also had to be genuine, untreated, and cut and polished by hand.

Two silver bracelets and a small buckle, all stamped with Indian Arts and Crafts Board mark U.S.NAVAJO 40, indicating they were made at Fort Wingate Indian School, 1938–1943.

Only an agent of the IACB could determine which silver complied with the standards and therefore could receive the government mark. No jewelry with tourist-type designs, such as arrow stamps, were eligible to receive the hallmark. C. G. Wallace had a bracelet with such stamps rejected. But silver made by casting in an individual tufa mold was approved to receive the government stamp, as evidenced by a cast bracelet by Juan De Dios marked with U.S.ZUNI 1.

Four bracelets with Indian Arts and Crafts Board marks, 1938–1943. Top cast bracelet with mark U.S.ZUNI 1 assigned to C. G. Wallace; bottom left marked U.S.NAVAJO 5 for Kelsey Trading or Pueblo Indian Arts and Crafts; middle and far right U.S.NAVAJO 1 for Gallup Mercantile.

Kenneth Chapman, curator of the Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe, and a respected authority on southwest Indian arts, assumed responsibility as special agent for the silver program. It was Chapman who developed the marking system for approved silver, spending months in research until he and Ambrose Roanhorse, a well-respected Navajo silversmith who taught at the Santa Fe Indian School, settled on the small dies that were eventually put into service.

The marks included the letters “U.S.” and then the tribal identification, NAVAJO, ZUNI, HOPI, and RGPUEBLO (for Rio Grande Pueblo) followed by a number identifying the participating trader, wholesaler, or federal Indian school. Stamps were designed and made for HOPI and RGPUEBLO, but apparently never used, possibly because there were no interested traders who employed Pueblo or Hopi smiths.

Three pieces of silver made at Albuquerque Indian School and stamped with U.S. NAVAJO 50 exhibit additional stamped numbers not seen on other pieces stamped by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board. Each piece possesses a different number, suggesting the numbers were assigned to each student in the silversmithing class. The AS in front of two of the numbers (AS 195 and AS 40) could possibly designate “Albuquerque School.”

Chiseled ingot silver pin marked U.S. NAVAJO 50 made at Albuquerque Indian School includes the stamped number AS 195 on the reverse, likely indicating Albuquerque School and the student that made the piece. Courtesy Gloria Dollar.
US Navajo 50 pin with additional hallmark AS 40.
Fabricated pin with small turquoise setting marked U.S. NAVAJO 50 made at Albuquerque Indian School includes the stamped number AS 40 on the reverse, likely indicating Albuquerque School and the student that made the piece. Courtesy Gloria Dollar.
Cast bracelet marked U.S. NAVAJO 50 made at Albuquerque Indian School includes the stamped number 177 on the reverse, likely indicating the student that made the piece. Courtesy Gloria Dollar.

Ambrose Roanhorse was responsible for applying the stamp to approved pieces, and later Dooley Shorty, the silversmithing teacher at Fort Wingate Indian School, also did some marking of approved silver.

The first numbers were assigned and stamped under Chapman’s supervision on April 5, 1938, in Santa Fe. Chapman and Roanhorse then traveled throughout New Mexico to stamp the silver held in anticipation of the start of the program. After three weeks, Chapman estimated that 4,000 pieces were examined in the first batches of silver with 2,322 qualifying for the stamp.

Response to the program was mixed. C. G. Wallace was enthusiastic and sent many pieces of silver for marking during the life of the program. On the other hand, Herman Schweizer was cautious about the objectives of the program but still submitted some of the first articles stamped in April 1938, thinking the Harvey Company should be in on the ground floor.

These two silver pins were stamped by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board with U.S.NAVAJO 2, indicating they were made for C. G. Wallace, 1938–1943. Bottom pin also includes unknown artist’s hallmark of curved arrow.

Complaints arose quickly. Traders and silversmiths were concerned that the rules were too stringent. Even C. G. Wallace, the program’s biggest supporter, complained to Chapman that he had to put a man on the road to try to sell the stamped silver because his biggest clients, the Fred Harvey Company and the Gallup wholesale houses, had turned their backs on Wallace’s government-stamped jewelry.

Schweizer’s support of the program was short lived, and he quickly concluded it was a failure. He told Chapman the IACB had not advertised the program as promised, and the traveling public knew nothing about it. When tourists were shown the marked silver they became suspicious of the unmarked silver in the store. Schweizer ceased selling government-stamped silver by late 1938.

Two silver pins stamped with Indian Arts and Crafts Board mark U.S.NAVAJO 70, designating they were made for the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild, 1940–1943. This number was originally assigned by Chapman in March 1940.

Number Designations for IACB Hallmarks

No.      Trader or School                               Location

U.S.Navajo

1          Gallup Mercantile Company              Gallup, NM

2          C. G. Wallace                                      Zuni, NM

3          Berton I. Staples, Crafts del Navajo   Coolidge, NM

4          Fred Harvey Company                        Albuquerque, NM

5*        Kelsey Trading Company                           Zuni, NM

            Pueblo Indian Arts & Craft Market      Albuquerque, NM

6          Zuni Trading Post (Robert Wallace)   Zuni, NM

10        Tuba City Indian School                     Tuba City, AZ

11        Drolet’s Trading Post (J. M. Drolet)   Naschitti, NM

20        Shiprock Indian School                      Shiprock, AZ

30        Crownpoint Indian School                  Crownpoint, NM

40        Fort Wingate Indian School               Fort Wingate, NM

50        Albuquerque Indian School                Albuquerque, NM

60        Santa Fe Indian School                       Santa Fe, NM

70        Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild             Fort Wingate, NM

U.S.Zuni

1          C. G. Wallace                                      Zuni, NM

4          Fred Harvey Company                        Albuquerque, NM

5*        Kelsey Trading Company                   Zuni, NM

            Pueblo Indian Arts & Craft Market    Albuquerque, NM

6          Zuni Trading Post (Robert Wallace)   Zuni, NM

11        Gallup Mercantile Company              Gallup, NM

*It appears the numbers U.S.NAVAJO 5 and U.S.ZUNI 5 were reassigned in 1941. Kelsey Trading Company in Zuni was originally assigned those numbers and had 170 pieces stamped in April 1938. Kelsey must have stepped away from the program because Chapman notes on June 10, 1941, that he marked 36 pieces U.S.ZUNI 5 and thirteen pieces U.S.NAVAJO 5 received from the Pueblo Indian Arts & Crafts Market.

Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild

The foundation for an arts and crafts guild for the Navajo tribe was laid in 1939 when a crafts program was established at Fort Wingate, New Mexico with assistance from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Ambrose Roanhorse was selected as director of the project, the purpose of which was to provide employment for those who had learned silversmithing at federal Indian schools as well as for established silversmiths in the vicinity. Roanhorse distributed supplies on the reservation and collected finished work to be sold through the guild. By 1940, with the help of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board (IACB), the program was established as the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild (NACG), though it was not formally chartered by the tribal council until 1941, at which time it moved to Window Rock.

Bolo, buckle and cast pins made for the Navajo Guild 1940s-1950s.
Bolo, buckle and cast pins made for the Navajo Guild 1940s-1950s.

Silver was produced either at the guild shop, in the homes of the craftsmen, or at community workshops established on the reservation. Materials and supplies were issued only to craftsmen who could meet the standards and requirements for quality established by the guild. These standards were similar to the stringent standards set in 1938 by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board silver stamping program (which meant no power-driven machinery nor sheet silver could be used in the production)[see Note * below]—though craftsmen having their own materials, supplies, and workshops could offer their products for sale to the guild. Full-time managers were hired, and one of the first was Anglo anthropologist John Adair.

Two bracelets made for the Navajo Guild 1940s-1950s.
Two bracelets made for the Navajo Guild 1940s-1950s.

In his 1944 book The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths, Adair wrote,

The purpose of the guild is to increase the tribal income from the sale of arts and crafts by promotion of fine handicrafts which will sell in quality stores in the East, Middle West, and Southwest. The tourist market is purposely avoided, as it does not yield as high a return per man hour as the more exclusive stores and shops. The type of silverware that the guild promotes is similar to that which has been at the Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Fort Wingate Indian schools; a revival of the old simple types of jewelry, without sets for the most part. Emphasis is placed on cast work. The guild also handles vegetable-dyed rugs and some aniline-dyed rugs of similar pattern and excellent workmanship. (pg 209)

Two of the “quality stores” who purchased from the Navajo Guild in 1947 were Marshall Field’s and Tiffany’s.

In 1943 the United Indian Traders Association (UITA) complained that the guild was in direct competition with the traders. The controversy continued in 1946 during the Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonial when Arthur Woodward, one of the judges of the silversmithing division, was shocked to learn that the craftsmen who worked with the NACG were not permitted to submit their work for competition. The Ceremonial board contended the Navajo Guild was government subsidized and should be disqualified; Woodward refuted their claim in an open letter published in the Gallup Independent newspaper, saying that guild craftsmen were in business for themselves and questioned whether the Gallup traders feared their silver would fare poorly in competition with the silver made by guild craftsmen.

Despite complaints from the reservation traders, the guild continued to succeed and grow; Ned Hatathli was named the first Navajo manager in 1951. In 1964 the guild opened its first branch at Cameron, Arizona, under the management of Kenneth Begay. By the late 1960s the NACG had added branches at Betatakin (Navajo National Monument), Kayenta, Teec Nos Pos, and Chinle.

In 1971 the guild became the Navajo Arts and Crafts Enterprise (NACE) and continues to be the only Navajo Nation–owned business engaged in the purchase and sale of Navajo-made arts and crafts.

The title “Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild” and its Horned Moon logo were registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 1943. Items made through the NACG were hallmarked with the Horned Moon logo and often included the word NAVAJO. Sometimes individual silversmiths’ hallmarks are also found on these pieces.

Navajo Guild hallmarks on the back of the two bracelets above.
Navajo Guild hallmarks on the back of the two bracelets above.

Note* For discussions of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board silver stamping program that ran from 1938-1943 see Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry by Pat & Kim Messier, Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks by Bille Hougart, and The Native American Curio Trade In New Mexico by Jonathan Batkin. IACB numbers were assigned April 1938, but the Navajo Guild at Fort Wingate was assigned US NAVAJO 70 in March 1940.

Two pins marked U.S. NAVAJO 70 made for the Navajo Guild at Fort Wingate.
Two pins marked U.S. NAVAJO 70 made for the Navajo Guild at Fort Wingate.

Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog October 19, 2017.