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For many collectors, no one piece of Indian Jewelry is more highly
prized than a beautiful, handmade concho belt. Concho, a derivation of
the Spanish word "concha", for shell refers to the oval or round
tooled, set or inlaid portions strung or linked into a belt. This
jewelry form is one of the oldest forms associated with the Navajo, and
was learned during their period of confinement
at Ft. Sumner, New Mexico from 1864 until 1868. Besides providing
bright
decoration to their traditional style of dress, belts also served as a
source
of readily available trade tender in their silver disks.
The traditional tooling, soldering and cutting techniques were
among the first learned from the Spanish New Mexican smiths and harness
workers the US Army hired to maintain their equipment needs. A story
tells of how the usually observant Navajo might have learned metal work
to duplicate the
puched metal rations cards issued by the Army. In any case, they
learned the
craft and adapted it to their cultural designs as well as adopting many
early
colonial Spanish ones such as the concha, and the "naja", a
horseshoe-like form found at the bottom of necklaces and on bridles.
This "good luck charm" dates back to 15th Century Spain, and may be an
early Moorish influence.
Much later, stone setting and cutting was developed and belts and
buckles
began to carry ornate settings of native turquoise, prized for it's
beautiful
colors (a.k.a. "skystone") as well as intricate silverwork. From this
unique,
involved history has come a style of jewelry recognized worldwide as
"American",
thanks to the creative silversmithing of the Navajo and other
Southwestern
Indian people. Kiva offers belts in many styles, either linked metal or
strung
on heavy leather. The leather belts are often unpunched to allow the
ultimate owner to personalize the fit.
Another form of belt buckle, is the "Ranger" buckle set, which
consists of one or two keepers, the buckle, and the tip, for the other
end of the belt.
This type of buckle set is best adapted to either a harness type belt,
which
has a wide main portion carrying a narrow leather strap at each end,
for
the buckle; or to a narrow 3/4" wide belt.
While it is an old style, it seems to blend in well with more
contemporary dressing styles for both men and women. The roots of the
design
are very Western, referring to the Texas "Rangers" group of volunteer
marshalls
during the 1850's through 1880's. Their gun holsters were often carried
on
wide leather belts which distributed the weight of the shooting irons,
well
for the long ride. A narrow buckle set, often intricately tooled,
closed
the belt and a silver or brass tip set off the whole effect. This style
was
not often worn by anyone besides law officers and gunslingers in those
days, so was undoubtedly adopted by the Indian silversmiths rather than
their having originated it. Kiva keeps a selection of contemporary
inlaid, tooled and overlaid
ranger buckle sets available. They make a great gift for any lover of
the
West, or any lover of unique and beautiful jewelry.