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A Field Guide to Southwest Jewelry · by Mateo James

Origins of Navajo Silversmithing: Atsidi Sani and the First Smiths

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Navajo silversmithing began in the mid-nineteenth century when a Navajo blacksmith known as Atsidi Sani — Old Smith — first learned to work iron from a Mexican craftsman named Nakai Tsosi, near Mount Taylor, New Mexico. Whether his transition to silver came before or after the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo (1864–1868) remains the central scholarly debate, but every primary source agrees: Atsidi Sani is the founder of the entire tradition.

Mateo's Field Notes

Every craft tradition has a founding moment. For Navajo silversmithing, it centers on one man and one practical calculation: Navajos were buying all their bridles from Mexicans, and Atsidi Sani saw a business. "He thought that he could earn money by making bridles," Grey Moustache told John Adair around 1938. "In those days the Navajo bought all of their bridles from the Mexicans … So he went down to the region of Mt. Taylor, and there he watched this Mexican smith at work." (Adair 1944, p. 4)

The Mexican smith was Nakai Tsosi — Thin Mexican — who was both a blacksmith and a silversmith. He taught iron first. Silver came later. Rosnek and Stacey (1976) put the whole arc plainly: "Atsidi Sani (Old Smith) was the first known Navajo silversmith." (Rosnek & Stacey 1976, ~p. 57) Mexicans already had a word for each: a blacksmith was a herrero, a silversmith a platero. The name Mexicans gave Atsidi Sani — Herrero, or Herrero Delgadito, Little Slim Ironworker — told you what he was primarily: a man who worked iron. (Bedinger 1973, ~pp. 5–6)

Rosnek and Stacey offered the most evocative summary of his stature: "if Atsidi Sani had not existed it would be necessary to invent him … for Atsidi Sani is the grandfather of all Navajo smiths." (Rosnek & Stacey 1976, ~p. 54) He taught his sons Big Black, Red Smith, Little Smith, and Burnt Whiskers. Grey Moustache named nine other smiths he taught directly, including Grey Moustache himself, who learned at age fourteen around 1878. (Adair 1944, p. 5) From this one man descended the Peshlakai family cluster at Crystal, New Mexico — including Fred Peshlakai, son of Slender Maker of Silver, who would later train Kenneth Begay. (Adair 1944, ~p. 93)

The date debate — when exactly Navajo silversmithing began — is itself the most interesting scholarly element. Bedinger offered the best resolution: "Perhaps it is a question of what is meant by 'making silver.' If one means doing it professionally, that is, spending much of one's time in this way, then the date will be 1869, after the return from Exile. But if the first groping efforts are meant, then it seems to me one must agree with Woodward and use the date 1853." (Bedinger 1973, ~p. 15) Adair himself, who spent months with Atsidi Sani's students, concluded "the art may have been taken over from the Mexicans as early as 1850 or as late as 1870." (Adair 1944, p. 6)

He used turkey feathers to fan his forge fire. He went blind in old age. He "died some twenty years ago [c. 1918]," Chee Dodge told Woodward, "and at that time he must have been over ninety years old." (Adair 1944, p. 5) He never made very much silver himself — "he spent most of his time making iron bits." (Adair 1944, p. 4) What he gave was the knowledge. That was enough.

Collector's Handbook: The Dating Debate in Practice

  • What it means for dating old pieces: Pre-1868 Navajo silver is extremely rare and would carry extraordinary provenance requirements. The professional silversmithing tradition, producing the forms collectors now recognize, emerges post-1868 after the return from Bosque Redondo.
  • The four-position debate: Sources split between pre-1853, 1853–1858 (Woodward), at Fort Sumner 1864–1868 (denied by primary witnesses), and post-1868 (Grey Moustache, Chee Dodge, three other named informants). See the Bosque Redondo chapter for the full evidentiary record.
  • Lineage as authentication context: Early Navajo silver flows through student lineages — Atsidi Sani → sons/students → Peshlakai family → Kenneth Begay generation. Understanding who taught whom helps place unsigned early pieces within a credible era.
  • Pre-hallmark era: No hallmark exists for Atsidi Sani or his contemporaries. Attribution of any piece to him would rest solely on oral history and documented provenance — no physical mark confirms it.

References

  • Adair, John. The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths. University of Oklahoma Press, 1944. pp. 3–6, 93.
  • Bedinger, Margery. Indian Silver: Navajo and Pueblo Jewelers. University of New Mexico Press, 1973. ~pp. 5–6, 13–18.
  • Rosnek, Carl, and Joseph Stacey. Skystone and Silver: The Collector's Book of Southwest Indian Jewelry. Prentice-Hall, 1976. ~pp. 54–58.

Related Entries

Read the biography of Atsidi Sani, the first known Navajo silversmith, and Nakai Tsosi, the Mexican smith who taught him iron. For the eyewitness account: Grey Moustache, who learned directly from Atsidi Sani c. 1878 and whose testimony shapes everything we know about these early years. For the Bosque Redondo context: Bosque Redondo and the First Smiths. For the first turquoise setting: First Turquoise Setting.