Collections
A collection of cherished objects from the Center for American Indian Health.
By Jackie Powder • Photos by Chris Myers
Weaving, silversmithing and basketmaking are among the Native-American cultural touchstones represented in a collection of cherished objects from the Center for American Indian Health. The Center is celebrating its Director Emeritus Mathuram Santosham, a recipient of the 2017 Prince Mahidol Award for his landmark Hib epidemiology studies and research trials on the efficacy of the Hib vaccine, which the WHO estimates will have saved more than 7 million lives by 2020.
Clockwise from top:
- Navajo contemporary beaded earrings
- Handmade miniature lacrosse stick strung with catgut and leather (tribe unknown)
- Tohono O’odham beargrass and yucca root woven basket
- Navajo contemporary geometric-style copper earrings
- Apache beaded buckskin hair tie
- Navajo rug/blanket, woven in a “Chief” design and historically worn by those with social or financial status
- Apache hand-beaded, white buckskin infant moccasins
Center:
- Navajo turquoise and silver cuff bracelets
Clockwise from top:
- Amethyst quartz mined in Kingman, Ariz., now non-tribal land
- Apache key ring decorated with seed beads, leather and jingle accents
- Navajo juniper “ghost bead” bracelets with turquoise and coral beads
- Navajo contemporary earrings with geometric pattern
- Navajo rug with a “Yei” design
- Apache burden basket woven with willow bark, buckskin and jingle accents
- Navajo wedding vase
- Navajo turquoise and coral necklaces with heishi beads