Zuni pueblo in western New Mexico is renowned for its small carved stone animal figurines, or fetishes. A fetish is an object, natural or manmade, in which a spirit is thought to reside and which can be used to effect either good or evil. According to legend, when a man finds a rock that resembles an animal, he has in his possession one of the original animals turned to stone by the children of the Sun Father. Such a fetish has the soul or breath of the animal inside. In recent years the market demand for fetishes from Zuni has spurred an increase in the number of carvers. Published in 1995 and now available from UNM Press, The Fetish Carvers of Zuni studies both the history of fetishes and Zuni's major contemporary fetish carvers, their art, aesthetics, and business.

The Zuni have traditionally used small stone carvings of animal figures as power objects and mediators between themselves and the spirit world. Any object that has special meaning can be used as a fetish. In this fascinating, informative, and beautifully illustrated guide to the fetishes of the Zuni people of New Mexico, Hal Zina Bennett explores key principles of Native American spirituality and how early Zuni teachings can benefit us all today. He provides an excellent guide to Zuni traditions and an intriguing picture of their early life, along with detailed instructions for using fetishes for mediation, reflection, and insight in modern life. He describes key fetish figures, including the Guardian of the Six Regions, their legendary meanings, and the personal qualities each figure can support and help its owner develop. In explaining the nature of fetishes and the psychological and spiritual benefits that we can gain from their use, Bennett provides illuminating cross-cultural comparisons, stimulating exercises, and journaling opportunities.

How Can Fetishes Help Us in our daily lives? What does the bear represent? The frog? The wolf? What powers do they contain? Noted Indian trader Kent McManis explains the different types of fetishes with special emphasis on the two major traditional types: the protective/healing group and the hunting group. He also has included dozens of new carvings to update the latest generation of artists coming into the field. Also provided are family trees for the more prominent families, along with more than two hundred fetishes in full color.

This catalogue features selections from the Wheelwright Museum's superb collection of Zuni fetishes amassed by Leonora Curtin, mostly between 1925 and the late 1940s. The pieces were made by the first generation of Zuni carvers to create the fetishes for a demanding commercial tourism market. It includes carvings by Theodore Kucate, Leekya Deyuse, Teddy Weahkee, Leo Poblano, David Tsikewa, and Morris Laahty.

The best general reference for collectors.

More than a guide to technique and design, this insiders' view of Zuni silverwork offers a fascinating window into Zuni culture. The authors examine Zuni silversmithing as an expression of cultural values and aesthetics and explore the relationships between jewelers and traders. They trace the history of jewelry at Zuni since Anasazi times. Using examples by more than twenty contemporary Zuni artists, they describe the techniques of casting, clusterwork, petitpoint, needlepoint, mosaic, overlay, and inlay for which Zuni jewelry is famous as well as nontraditional styles using new materials and techniques. Also included are several interviews in which Zunis discuss the aesthetics and history of silversmithing. Published in cooperation with the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico

This book explores the magic and mystery behind the animal figures or fetishes skillfully carved by artists from the Southwestern Pueblos. Pictures and text highlight the impressive variety of forms, materials, and traditional and contemporary styles available to collectors along with a price guide to current market values. It also discusses the symbolic meanings associated with each one and explains how they are "borrowed" for use by members of non-Native American cultures.

The lovely stone inlay work in Zuni jewellery is world famous and here it is shown in popular forms for men and women. 90 brilliant colour photographs and a brand new price guide present hundreds of Zuni jewellery forms to tempt and delight collectors throughout Asia, Europe and America. Modern artists are identified.

Secret societies in tribal societies turn out to be key to understanding the origins of social inequalities and state religions.