| Page. | |||
| Plate | XVI. | Objects in silver | 172 |
| XVII. | Navajo workshop | 175 | |
| XVIII. | Crucible,and Sandstone molds for shapingsilver objects | 175 | |
| XIX. | Objects in silver | 177 | |
| XX. | NavajoIndian with silver ornament | 178 |
Among the Navajo Indians there are many smiths, who sometimes forge ironand brass, but who work chiefly in silver. When and how the art ofworking metals was introduced among them I have not been able todetermine; but there are many reasons for supposing that they have longpossessed it; many believe that they are not indebted to the Europeansfor it. Doubtless the tools obtained from American and Mexican tradershave influenced their art. Old white residents of the Navajo countrytell me that the art has improved greatly within their recollection;that the ornaments made fifteen years ago do not compare favorably withthose made at the present time; and they attribute this change largelyto the recent introduction of fine files and emery-paper. At the time ofthe Conquest the so-called civilized tribes of Mexico had attainedconsiderable skill in the working of metal, and it has been inferredthat in the same period the sedentary tribes of New Mexico also wroughtat the forge. From either of these sources the first smiths among theNavajos may have learned their trade; but those who have seen thebeautiful gold ornaments made by the rude Indians of British Columbiaand Alaska, many of whom are allied in language to the Navajos, maydoubt that the latter derived their art from a people higher in culturethan themselves.
The appliances and processes of the smith are much the same among theNavajos as among the Pueblo Indians. But the Pueblo artisan, living in aspacious house, builds a permanent forge on a frame at such a heightthat he can work standing, while his less fortunate Navajo confrère,dwelling in a low hut or shelter, which he may abandon any day,constructs a temporary forge on the ground in the manner hereafterdescribed. Notwithstanding the greater disadvantages under which thelatter labors, the ornaments made by his hand are genera