Native American Symbols
We are often asked by customers about the meaning of designs used in American Indian arts and crafts, particularly on jewelry and pottery.
While it is true that many design symbols represent specific ideas or things taken from a Native American cultural context, it is also true that many are only peripherally related to the culture or religious beliefs of a particular tribe.
What is significant to one tribe may or may not be meaningful to another tribe, or it may be interpreted in a different way. Many symbols are just an artist’s interpretation of a pleasing pattern or patterns that look good together.
In this section, we shall discuss some of the most common symbols found in native american art, crafts, and cultures.
Since the Indian hunting horse had different duties than that of a war horse, a different set of symbols were used to aid the hunting horse and his rider. Designed to help the Indian hunter in finding the buffalo herd,…
While the symbols used and their meanings varied from tribe to tribe, there were some common symbols that were widely used on the Indian war horse. In this article, you will find explanations of some symbols which Indians used to decorate their war horses.
Here is another list of some of the most commonly seen Native American symbols and imagery that can be found throughout Native American Jewelry, along with what their symbolism means.
Here are some common Hopi symbols.
An interesting find revealed that long hair in men was actually related to consciousness or the sixth sense. Does that sound preposterous? Lets delve a bit more into this topic as it relates to extrasensory perception.
Sands shifting, sifting, through time, it moves through my fingers it moves, through space, it sifts and changes. Never remaining the same. Shapeshifting.