Living in Arizona, Southwest jewelry is everywhere. However, my favorite place for handmade Native American jewelry is in Sedona.
Sedona may be considered the "New Age Capitol in the World" which is why they also sell new age jewelry and healing gemstone jewelry, but people around the world are becoming awakened to the various healing and awakening properties of gemstones.
I knew that the handmade native American jewelry was authentic at the time because I was able to witness an elderly native American woman create the jewelry as she sold her own line of handmade Native American jewelry. I have high respect for the art of handmade Native American jewelry with its use of striking turquoise and shining silver. You can even inquire if they offer healing gemstone jewelry.
The tribes native to the area of Sedona include the Apache, Hopi, Navajo, Pima, Yaqui, Yuma, Yavapai, Tewa, Southern Paiute, Mojave, Maricopa, Havasupai, Cocopa and others. Each has its own traditions, styles and historical outlook directly related to their designs. Each also has its own specialty in media. For example, some apply their expertise and designs to baskets, woven cloth or pottery rather than jewelry.
Much of the Sedona jewelry in the new age shops are considered healing gemstone jewelry, whether Native American or not. Each stone is provided with meaning that relates to a person's life. Some stones symbolize love and others, such as amethyst, symbolize creative power.
While Sedona is a wonderful place to purchase unique items that cannot be found in conventional cities, don't overlook the other possibilities available in other parts of the country. There are literally hundreds of native tribes in the Americas, and many do gather for both tribe-specific and intertribal pow-wows even in major market cities like Houston and Dallas.
We are seeing a resurgence of the native american knowledge of combining stones for protection, healing and enhancing mental/physical energy. As people remember who they are/were and enter the spiritual path, they seek out and begin working with combinations of various minerals to assist them on their path. This new generation of "medicine jewelry" can be quite powerful, depending on who is combining the stones and their intent.
