SilverSmiths

by Dennis Green

Today, I felt like regaling myself with some of my Navajo, Zuñi and Yurok silver jewelry — two inlaid bracelets by Yurok silversmith and artist David Ipeña, a huge silver “Sunburst” Navajo bracelet, signed “DTH,” and a big oval silver Zuñi sunburst belt buckle with a turquoise stone in its middle, unsigned. The magic of silver is the same as that which resides in the clear flowing water of a mountain stream, so I am made new.

And I’m wearing my $500 Marc Nason boots, hand made in Italy of exotic black scuffed leather, with the Gothic crosses on the sides repeated in two tiny silver pulls on the zippers. An indulgence I’m probably still paying for, these boots, but wot the hell… Because I had an appointment with my surgeon today, and she stabbed a long needle into my belly without any anesthesia, I figured I would need some Gothic armor.

The peritoneal catheter, though, is healing nicely, except for the hard knot of fluid under the last incision, and Dr. O’Neill tells me I’ll be able to start peritoneal dialysis training next week. That means six more sessions of hemo, but now that I’ve established a major flirtation with my nurse, Irene, (“Good night, Irene, Irene/I’ll see you in my dreams!”), I can bear it. The iPad certainly helps.

It’s interesting how the material world and the spiritual/emotional world intersect. Makes me suspect the two aren’t as separate, or different as we thought, after all.

It was 40 years ago, when I was still teaching at UCSB, that it started. One of my students opened a store in Santa Barbara, “Ya-Ta-Hey,” dedicated to the study and promotion of Southwest Native American tribal art and jewelry. That’s where I bought the Sunburst Navajo turquoise bracelet. I paid several hundred dollars for it, a huge sum for me at the time, but I was a goner. And today, it’s worth several thousand.

The day I met Diane, we were both wearing Zuñi inlay bracelets, by chance, but it sparked some wonderful connection. She has been collecting tribal art and jewelry longer than I have, and has many more excellent pieces to show for it. Our house is like a New Mexico & Tlingit Museum!

And I know full well the magic contained in these works of art. In the tribes, the artist, the silversmith, the dream worker is one of the most highly regarded members of the tribe. They bring the Next World into this one, and what they create is Power.

I am part Lakota, descended from Crazy Horse, the Sioux chief who led his warriors into battle at the Little Big Horn, and may have personally taken Custer’s scalp. From the Great Spirit, I got my Lakota name, “Lone Wolf,” when I was only nine years old, in a vision in Blue Lake, California. I have been fascinated by Native American lore ever since.

David Ipeña was the only artist working in paintings and silver jewelry in his tribe. Their traditional craft was basket weaving. I have three signed silver pieces by Ipeña, and an ink line drawing. While I was having bypass surgery, Diane found a silver Yurok warrior pendant by Ipeña, in 1996, which I wear to this day. That same month, the artist died of a heart attack while hiking on Mt. Tam, and if that’s not magic, I don’t know what is!

©2010 Dennis Green