ABOUT THE ANTELOPE KACHINA:

The Antelope is a very sacred animal & is a spiritual Kachina to the people of Zuni. As I was told by Raylan & Patty, that before there were grocery stores that sold meat, the Puebloan people of Zuni had to kill the Antelope of the land to survive, so they look at the Antelope as a sacred animal that comes back to feed them.. They believe that they are their kin, who come to them so they can continue living & be nourished. They also believe that they are their brothers & sisters in the afterlife. The process goes so that when the antelope are freshly killed ,they are treated & looked at as a relative that wanted to come back & visit their home. After they are sacrificed, they dress them in traditional Zuni attire, overlap their feet & then by placing corn meal in this area of the body, the offerings begin.

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THE ANTELOPE KACHINA NECKLACE:

Taking 2nd place in the jewelry category at our 2023 Santa Fe Indian Market, there's a reason why the educated judges we have, honored them with this award! If one knows or could only realize just in the time alone, that was spent making this, you can only appreciate it that much more! The art of Zuni mosaic is at it's greatest level of expertise that the Edaakie's did & our judges saw that!

Made in a traditional "Antelope Kachina" squash blossom style, the materials used are Sleeping Beauty Turquoise-Mediterranean Coral-Shimmery Mother of Pearl-Serpentine & Black Jet. All these materials you figure have to be perfectly cut & shaped without any mistakes, since it would hurt the uniformity & balance of each Kachina section. They could not have done a more than perfect job at cutting!! The cuts are then delicately placed side by side, with some being "flush inlay", while others are "raised inlay" ..

The Antelope center piece has almost a "Regal" appearance, looking crowned & is finely detailed as it is highlighted as it lays atop of a thick gauge sterling backing. The 4 Antelope Kachina side panels have somewhat of an abstract look where one black horn lays off the side, a face of mother of pearl & a collar of precisely cut triangular cuts of turquoise & 1/2 moon shapes of Mediterranean coral that lay at the bottom . Nearing near the hand made link extender, are 2 trapezoid shaped panels which represent the "Universe" & "Rainclouds". Each section's materials lay in a bezel setting.

The Kachina's are strung on 3 LONG strands of 8.5 mm sterling beads to accommodate the length & width of the Kachinas..If you zoom in on photo 22, you will see how sterling 'lifters' were made to support the beads!