Cowgirls & Indians Frequently Asked Questions

Every piece sold on Cowgirls & Indians is made by an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe. That's not a marketing claim — it's the legal standard set by the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 (IACA), which makes it a federal offense to misrepresent the tribal origin of any artwork or jewelry.

Each piece includes:

• Artist's name
• Tribal affiliation
• Materials and stones used
• Hallmark reference

Look for the hallmark. Signed, hallmarked pieces by known Native artists now fetch several times the price of equivalent unsigned work. Our listings always identify the artist and include their hallmark where present.

We Partner Directly with Indigenous Artisans.
Traditional galleries and trading posts buy inventory at wholesale and resell at markup. The artist is paid a fraction of their worth. We partner directly with verified Native artists, pay fair wages upfront, and provide year-round access to international buyers they wouldn't reach otherwise. This sustainable model supports artists in building independent practices.

Full Transparency & Documentation.
Every product listing includes complete documentation: artist's name, tribal affiliation, materials used, and hallmark reference. You know exactly who made your piece and where they're from before you purchase.

We Ship Internationally.
Most galleries and trading posts serve local foot traffic or regional collectors. We ship to 30+ countries with full insurance, giving artisans access to a global market they've never had before.

Made-to-Order Is Built In.
Galleries occasionally take custom orders, but it's a favor, not a service. Trading posts don't offer it at all. Our bespoke commission process is formalized, with design consultations and no upcharge for customization.

We're Indigenous-Owned.
The vast majority of galleries and trading posts selling Native art are not Native-owned. Decisions about which artists to carry, how to price their work, and how they're compensated are made by non-Native business owners. Cowgirls & Indians is Native-owned and will remain in Native hands. Every decision we make is rooted in accountability to these communities.

The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 is a federal truth-in-advertising law. It makes it illegal to sell any art or craft product as "Native American," "Navajo," "Hopi," or any specific tribal name unless it was actually made by an enrolled member of that tribe.

Why it matters to you: The market is flooded with "inspired by" and outright counterfeit pieces from overseas that are sold using tribal names.

A hallmark is the artist's personal stamp — stamped, engraved, or etched directly into the silver or gold. It's the equivalent of a painter signing a canvas.

It may be:

• Initials (e.g., "LC" for Lee Charley)
• A symbol or clan mark
• A full name

When a hallmark is present and verifiable against tribal artist records, it is the single most powerful indicator of authenticity.

Unsigned pieces are not automatically fake — many exceptional older pieces predate the hallmarking convention. But for contemporary work, a signed, hallmarked piece from a known artist can command multiples of the price of an equivalent unsigned piece of the same material quality and workmanship.

All artist listings on Cowgirls & Indians include the hallmark reference where applicable, so you know exactly whose hands made what you're wearing. If you own a piece and want to identify the hallmark, you can search existing artist marks here.

Navajo silversmithing is approximately 170 years old.

The first known Diné silversmith, Atsidii Sání ("Old Smith"), began learning metalwork around 1853 at a small military outpost at Sheep Springs, just north of present-day Gallup, New Mexico. By the 1880s, the craft had spread across the Navajo Nation, and turquoise was first set in silver around 1880.

That timeline is worth sitting with:

• Tiffany & Co. was founded in 1837.
• Cartier in 1847.

Navajo silversmithing began at roughly the same era as the great European and American jewelry houses—yet it is rarely placed in the same conversation.

The 1880–1900 period is called the Classic Period of Navajo jewelry. Today's artisans on Cowgirls & Indians are working in direct lineage from that era—same techniques, same materials, same hands-on mastery.

At every major jewelry house — Tiffany, Cartier, Gucci — production is divided into departments: casting, fabrication, stone setting, polishing, finishing. Specialists handle each stage. A single ring might pass through a dozen pairs of hands.

A Navajo silversmith does every single step alone, start to finish:

Casting grain → ingot → rolling → hammering → annealing → hand-sawing → forming → stone setting → sanding → buffing → finishing → final polish.

This is not a simplified process. It is a more demanding one.

The artisan must hold mastery across every discipline that a luxury house distributes across an entire floor of specialists. The result is a piece with one maker's intelligence and judgment embedded in every millimeter.

That is what heirloom means. Not just material quality—but singular, traceable human craft.

Tufa casting is the traditional Navajo method of casting silver — and it is unlike any other casting technique in fine jewelry.

Tufa is volcanic tuff stone — porous, heat-resistant, and fine-grained enough to hold intricate carved detail. Critically, it is harvested directly from Navajo Reservation lands, making the material itself an expression of place and belonging.

The process: The tufa is harvested, dried, cut into slices roughly the thickness of bread, and dried again. The artisan carves the desired design into the stone face, pairs it with a second tufa slab, and pours molten silver into the channel. The result carries the exact grain and texture of the stone—a texture that cannot be replicated by machine casting or lost-wax methods.

There are two primary tufa types:

Hopi Tufa — Consistent grain, soft, easier to work with fine detail. Produces a more uniform surface texture. More coveted and harder to source. Typically used for gold pieces.

Gallup Tufa — More character, less uniform, light and grainy. Requires additional expertise from the artisan to achieve a clean cast. Produces a deeper, more textured surface. The standard for sterling silver work — and the one that rewards skill the most visibly.

When you hold a tufa-cast piece, you are holding something that carries the literal geology of the Navajo Nation inside it. No two castings are identical.

Early Navajo smiths first cast silver using sand molds, a technique learned from Mexican plateros (silversmiths) who were brought to the Hubbell Trading Post in Ganado in the 1880s to teach the craft. Sand molds worked, but they required a fresh mold for every single casting.

Tufa stone was found to be superior in almost every way:

• Fine-grained enough to hold carved designs with precision
• Heat-resistant enough to withstand repeated pours
• Capable of yielding multiple castings from a single mold

Historian Dr. Washington Matthews documented Navajo smiths using volcanic tufa molds as early as 1879.

The Navajo Nation sits on volcanic geology that provides ready access to this material—meaning tufa casting is not just a technique, but a craft that is geographically bound to the land. An artisan making a tufa-cast piece today is using stone from the same ancestral landscape that generated the tradition itself.

Natural turquoise is mined, cut, and set exactly as it comes from the earth—no treatment, no enhancement. It is the rarest and most valuable. The stone's color, matrix pattern, and hardness vary by mine and are irreproducible. Natural turquoise commands a significant premium and ages beautifully.

Stabilized turquoise is natural turquoise that has been injected with a resin or polymer to harden softer material and deepen color. It is used widely in authentic Native jewelry—it is not a fake. The stone is real; it has simply been treated to make it workable. Stabilized stones should always be disclosed.

Synthetic or simulated turquoise is not turquoise at all—it is dyed howlite, plastic, or glass shaped and colored to resemble it. This is what floods the counterfeit market. It is the material behind "Native-inspired" pieces.

Yes—significantly.

Mine-specific turquoise carries distinct characteristics that collectors and appraisers treat as a separate value dimension from the piece itself.

Sleeping Beauty (Globe, AZ) — Sky blue, minimal matrix, exceptional hardness and durability. Among the most sought-after American turquoise. The mine closed in 2012, making existing stock increasingly scarce.

Bisbee (Bisbee, AZ) — Deep blue with distinctive chocolate-brown matrix. Among the most coveted stones by serious collectors. Also no longer actively mined.

Morenci (Morenci, AZ) — Vivid blue-green with silver and black matrix. Visually dramatic.

Number 8 (Elko, NV) — Golden matrix on blue-green ground. Instantly recognizable to collectors.

When a mine is closed or production is limited, authentic stones from that source appreciate over time independent of the metalwork around them.

Knowing your stone's origin is not pedantry — it is part of understanding what you own.

Turquoise has always been central to Navajo jewelry, but the tradition is far broader. Contemporary Navajo artisans work with materials from around the world, continuing a centuries-old practice of incorporating stones sourced through trade and exploration.

This expansion was pioneered by Charles Loloma (Hopi, 1921–1991), one of the most influential Native jewelers of the 20th century. Loloma broke from traditional silverwork conventions in the 1960s and '70s, introducing gold, diamonds, coral, lapis lazuli, turquoise, malachite, ironwood, and fossilized ivory into his designs. His work opened the door for contemporary Native artists to explore materials beyond the expected, transforming Native jewelry from ethnographic craft into fine art.

Common stones include:

• Diamonds
• Spiny Oyster Shell
• Coral
• Lapis
• Black Onyx

The artisan's selection of stone is itself a creative and cultural act — not an incidental choice. When you ask about a piece, asking about the stones is always a good conversation starter.

A quiet assumption runs through the vintage market: that the best Native jewelry and art is old, and the artisans who made it are gone. They are not gone. They are in their studios right now.

The same families who built the silversmithing tradition — in some cases literally the same surnames — are working today. These are generational artisans: children and grandchildren of masters, trained in the same techniques, using the same tufa stone harvested from the same Navajo lands, creating pieces of greater technical sophistication.

When you buy contemporary, you do something vintage cannot offer: You directly sustain the tradition. The artist whose piece you purchase can teach the next generation. Buying vintage sends money through auction houses and dealers — it reaches no living artist.

This is the central economic injustice of the Native art market.

Galleries across Santa Fe, Gallup, and the wider Southwest purchase directly from artists at 40–50 cents on the retail dollar — sometimes less. The artist has no leverage: they need cash today, and the next buyer with the right price is the gallery owner in front of them.

The result is a market where the people who create the value capture the least of it. A $1,200 bracelet in a Scottsdale gallery may have earned the artisan $480.

Most artisans rely on one or two major market weekends a year (SWAIA, Heard Indian Market) for their primary income. The rest of the year, they sell to trading posts and galleries at discounted rates — or they don't sell at all.

At Cowgirls & Indians, we work differently. We partner directly with Indigenous artisans, pay fair wages upfront, and provide year-round, international market access. This sustainable model supports artists and keeps traditional techniques alive for future generations.

Yes — and it's one of the most financially precarious structures imaginable.

The two anchor events for Native American fine art — Santa Fe Indian Market (SWAIA) in August and the Heard Indian Market in Phoenix—are the primary venues where artisans can sell directly to collectors at anything approaching full value.

For many artists, a single weekend at one of these markets genuinely equals twelve months of income.

The rest of the year, they sell to trading posts and galleries at the discounted rates described above, or they don't sell at all.

Cowgirls & Indians was built specifically to solve this. We give artisans a permanent, year-round, international sales channel—so a great piece doesn't have to wait until August to find the right buyer.

On the surface, yes—it looks generous. Certain Scottsdale galleries maintain private vaults of coveted materials: high-grade natural turquoise from closed mines, Hopi tufa, 14k and 18k gold, rare spiny oyster, stones an independent artisan simply cannot source or afford on their own.

For an artist working from the reservation with limited capital, access to a gallery's vault can feel like an opportunity. And the pieces they create with those materials are, genuinely, some of the finest work produced anywhere.

Here is what that access actually costs: The gallery fronts the materials. The artisan creates the piece. When it sells, the gallery recoups the material cost first — at their valuation, not the artist's — then pays the artisan their share of what remains. That share still follows the same 40–50% retail structure.

The materials don't elevate the artist's earnings; they deepen the gallery's leverage. The artisan has now produced a premium piece — one that commands a premium price — while receiving the same below-market rate they would have earned on a simpler piece. The gallery captures the entire upside of the rare materials. The artist absorbs the creative labor and the opportunity cost.

Worse: because the artist didn't source the materials themselves, they have no ownership stake in the supply relationship. They cannot build the same work independently. The gallery has created dependency by design.

And here's what happens over time: As these pieces trade hands — from collector to estate sale, auction house to resale — the same gallery owners often end up reacquiring them.

What we do instead: Cowgirls & Indians supports artisans in building their own material relationships and sourcing networks — so the stones and metals they work with belong to their practice, not to someone else's vault. Their creative decisions. Their margins. Their long-term independence.

Yes—and at no additional charge for the customization itself.

Through our Made-to-Order service, you can work with an artisan to customize:

• Product specification
• Stone selection
• Metal (sterling silver, 14K gold, or 18K gold)
• Sizing and measurements
• Hand-stamped designs

This is how Navajo jewelry has always been made at its finest — around the specific person who will wear it, and the specific stones that speak to them.

Made-to-order pieces take approximately 2–3 weeks to produce. Timelines vary by artisan and complexity; we will communicate these clearly before you commit.

The result is a piece that exists nowhere else in the world — made for you, by a master artist, with a permanent record of its creation.

Book a Free Design Consultation

Begin Your Commission

Every piece on Cowgirls & Indians is made by an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe. Look for the hallmark — it's the artist's personal signature stamped into the silver or gold.

Every order from Cowgirls & Indians documents:

• Artist's name
• Tribal affiliation
• Materials used (metal type, stone type and treatment status)
• Hallmark reference

**You can verify hallmarks against tribal artist records for additional authentication. 

This matters for:

• Insurance coverage
• Estate planning
• Resale value

All orders ship in anti-tarnish, fine jewelry packaging designed to keep sterling silver and gold pieces in excellent condition.

For long-term care:

Storage: Keep pieces in the anti-tarnish pouch or box when not worn. Avoid storing silver in open air for extended periods, particularly in humid environments.

Cleaning: Use a soft, dry cloth for regular polishing. A silver-specific cleaning cloth works well for deeper cleaning. We recommend Connoisseurs Jewelry Cleaner products. Avoid ultrasonic cleaners, which can loosen stone settings.

Wearing: Remove pieces before swimming, bathing, or applying lotions and perfumes — these accelerate tarnish and patina. Sterling silver worn regularly against skin often develops a beautiful natural patina many collectors prefer.

These are heirloom pieces. They will outlast you — which is exactly the point.

We ship to 30+ countries with fully insured shipping on every international order.

Current shipping destinations include:

United States | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Italy | Spain | Netherlands | Switzerland | Portugal | Ireland | Sweden | Norway | Luxembourg | Romania | Hungary | Lithuania | Slovenia | Greece | Türkiye | Canada | Mexico | Brazil | Colombia | Australia | Japan | China | Hong Kong | Taiwan | Singapore | Thailand | Indonesia | India | Bangladesh | UAE

Don't see your country?

Contact us—we ship overseas to almost anywhere, and we'll work out the logistics directly.

giddyup@cowgirlsindians.com

+1 (512) 626-0498

DOMESTIC (United States):

• Orders up to $500: $10 flat rate
• Orders $500+: FREE SHIPPING

INTERNATIONAL (All Other Countries):

• $50 flat rate, fully insured

For high-value or oversized orders, we may contact you to arrange concierge shipping service to ensure safe, secure delivery.

Every order ships in anti-tarnish, fine jewelry packaging — the same standard used for high-end jewelry houses.

This is not decorative. Anti-tarnish materials contain activated carbon or volatile corrosion inhibitors that significantly slow silver oxidation in transit and storage.

We designed the unboxing experience to match what's inside: these are heirloom objects. They should arrive like it.

International orders are fully insured.

In-Stock Items:

• Domestic (US): 5–7 business days
• International: 6-10 business days (varies by country and customs processing)

Made-to-Order Items:

• Production time: Approximately 2–3 weeks from order confirmation
• Shipping time: Add 6–10 days depending on destination

High-value orders may require additional verification before shipment. We may contact you to confirm delivery details, recipient information, and secure-shipping arrangements before dispatch.

International orders may require additional verification before shipment. Duties, import taxes, and carrier collection fees are not included at checkout and may be due upon delivery.

As a purveyor of authentic Native American-made goods, all our eligible jewelry and handicrafts qualify for Duty-Free treatment under the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) Article 6.2.

Order Cancellation: Once an order has been processed, we cannot guarantee cancellation. However, we will make every effort to accommodate your request.

Order Changes: Any order changes can potentially be accommodated until fulfillment has begun.

Please contact us at giddyup@cowgirlsindians.com to make order alterations. We will try our best to accommodate your request. Please note any changes made after the initial order confirmation are not guaranteed.

We want to ensure your experience with Cowgirls & Indians is seamless and exceptional.

Made-to-Order & Bespoke Commissions:
All made-to-order and bespoke pieces are final sale and cannot be returned or exchanged. Because these pieces are custom-crafted specifically for you—with your selected stones, metals, and measurements—we are unable to accept returns.

In-Stock Items:

Return Request Timeframe: Please submit return requests to giddyup@cowgirlsindians.com within three (3) calendar days of delivery.

Return Request Process: Cowgirls & Indians products must be returned in a new, unused state, in impeccable condition. All protective materials, original box, along with accessories and documents, must be included.

We cannot accept returns if the product exhibits signs of wear, use, or has been altered from its original condition.

Please don't hesitate to reach out to us at giddyup@cowgirlsindians.com for any questions or concerns. Your satisfaction remains our top priority.

Cowgirls & Indians handles all customer service and order communication directly.

General Inquiries:

giddyup@cowgirlsindians.com
Direct Line: +1 (512) 626-0498

We're here to help with:

• Made-to-order commissions
• International orders and concierge shipping
• Returns, exchanges, or product questions
• Partnerships and press inquiries