Jewelry from the Zuni Pueblo, south of Gallup, New Mexico, has always made up many of the “tourist” style earrings that were so popular in the 1960s and 1970s.

Native American artists made the original Southwestern Native Earrings with turquoise and shell beads that were often two or three inches long or more. The beads were strung on a cotton string put through a hole in the ear lobe. Both men and women wore these earrings, which are very similar to the works of current Santo Domingo artist Ray Lovato, except they hang by silver wires!

When Jimmy Poyer traveled the country with his country-rock band, he was often on the road. But he got bored between his music gigs.