{"id":3000050162,"date":"2021-11-23T14:36:37","date_gmt":"2021-11-23T19:36:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/?p=3000050162"},"modified":"2021-11-23T14:36:38","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T19:36:38","slug":"diversity-and-connection-in-native-american-jewelry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/community-stories\/member-spotlight\/diversity-and-connection-in-native-american-jewelry","title":{"rendered":"Diversity and connection in Native American jewelry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The audience for \u201cMetalsmith Matriarchs: Makers, Memory, and Reciprocity\u201d\u2014WeWork\u2019s recent event held in celebration of Native American Heritage Month\u2014hailed from cities across the country. Each was eager to hear metalsmith Nanibaa Beck<\/a> talk about this jewelry-making tradition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beck, a second-generation Dine\u2019 (Navajo) jeweler and founder of NotAbove<\/a>, shared the ways Native women metalsmiths integrate Indigenous knowledge, practice, and tradition into their craft. In many cases, she explains, these skills are passed on from generation to generation. For instance, she learned silversmith skills as a young teen, working beside her father in his studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The connection, she says, was simple: \u201cMy dad needed help and I just wanted to make something with him.\u201d But that sparked an interest in an art form that dates back more than a century, and is reflective of the diverse geography, culture, and history of the Native American people. <\/p>\n\n\n