Tribal

From the Northwest Coast of Alaska comes this charming, light-colored wooden trinket box. The tile depicting the spirit of orca was designed and made by Haida artist Chris Mahan in the late 1980s. The lid of the box is not hinged, and the title of the tile as well as the artist’s signature ...more>>

From a small antique shop outside Austin, Texas comes this 1940s stunning three-star, hand-beaded medallion Navajo necklace. Each medallion sports a central white star surrounded by black and red beads in a traditional Navajo design. The medallions have been sewn onto discs of leather. From the c...more>>

Made in the United States in 1990 by Siskiyou Buckle Co., Inc. of Ashland, Oregon, this beautifully enameled buckle in green, red and white is made of pewter. This belt buckle with its geometric shapes, vivid colors and carved edges reflects the Southwest Indian-style of buckles. Its make is the ...more>>

This beautifully designed and constructed Plains Indian beaded pistol holster was manufactured in the late 1930s. Handmade from buffalo hide, the fringed holster can easily support a pistol (perhaps a Colt revolver) with a six- to eight-inch barrel. A belt can easily slide through the top leather...more>>

This gorgeous piece of onyx banded in colors of gray, beige, red and white has been sculpted into the shape of a cougar. The fetish is in excellent condition, and its style replicates Mayan imagery. This piece was acquired in the late 1980s by Dogbotz Boneyard co-owner Dan Hartmann.

In sp...more>>

Dogbotz Boneyard has invested in the ceramics of the Vail Family not only because of the innovative, playful and unusual artistic techniques involved in the creation of horse hair pottery but also because of the portrait-like positioning of the animal subject, rendering it with a very animated fe...more>>

Though some folks object to the killing of animals, those of us who are Native American understand that one of the perennial mysteries of the great Circle of Life is that “life takes life in order to survive,” be it for food, clothing or protection. The life and spirit of the large tu...more>>

This unique pendant is a Native American arrowhead found in 1973 in the Palos Heights area of Illinois. A small silver-tone leaf clasp was attached to it about 15 ago so the arrowhead could hang from an 18-inch silver chain and be worn as a piece of jewelry. The arrowhead itself is reddish brown ...more>>

From the Meskwaki Nation in Tama, Iowa, comes this vintage medicine bag or pouch hand-made by tribal artisan Brenda Youngbear. The pouch is made from deer hide and glass beads (yellow, orange, red, turquoise and black). The hide is in good vintage condition, showing a natural aging color. All the...more>>

Originally purchased in the 1940s then handed down to Dogbotz Boneyard co-proprietor Patrick Price, this vintage belt buckle was hand-made and beaded by a Hopi artisan. The buckle frame is covered with tanned deer hide, which serves as a base upon which the beads have been sewn. The seed beads of...more>>

The harvest design with watermelon and “cabbage roses” is an old Iroquois design. Here, the artist executes this design in porcupine quills on birch bark. He has added three sewing accessory baskets: a scissors case, a needle case and a pincushion basket — all placed inside the ...more>>

Hand-carved from a beautiful piece of red onyx, this gorgeous wolf fetish was designed by Zuni artist Bernard Laiwakete, who lives in western New Mexico. On one side of the wolf, a turquoise heart-line has been placed into the onyx, extending from the wolf’s mouth to belly. Both its eyes ar...more>>

This small yet colorful Seminole Indian doll is simply a rare find. Hand-crafted sometime between the 1930s and 40s, she remains in very good vintage condition. Made traditionally with palm fiber by a Seminole doll maker, the cloth of her dress retains its original vibrant colors, showing just ma...more>>

This gorgeous 1950s, handmade Sioux barrette depicts the mythical Thunderbird descending for the sky. This piece is exquisite in every way, from the vibrant yellow, red and orange seed beads to the supple brain-tanned leather to which the beads are attached. This barrette, often worn during triba...more>>

This is an original, vintage Northwest Coast Native killer whale rattle made by Tlingit artist Odin Lonning. Among Northwest Coast Native peoples, hand drums and rattles are the popular musical instruments. All dance groups use them, and they are vital in ceremonies such as potlatches.

Th...more>>

This beautiful pair of buckskin women’s moccasins made in the mid-2000s features handcrafted cut beadwork in traditional Cheyenne designs. These moccasins were made by Cheyenne artisan P. Burleson.

The primary bead colors are purple, red, orange and yellow, and the arrangements incl...more>>

This small contemporary, wooden boomerang handmade in the early 2000s is beautifully decorated with pyrographic (wood-burnt) spiritual images sacred to the Maori people of Australia. A boomerang is a tool, typically constructed as a flat air foil that, when thrown, is designed to spin about an ax...more>>

This curious-looking walrus face sculpture was made in the 1980s by an Inuit (or Eskimo) artisan. Carved out of greenish gray soapstone, the face of the walrus has a stern look, and yet the details of the face, from puffy cheeks with tusks to flaring nostrils and wide-open eyes, are just stunning...more>>

What a stunning piece of jewelry this pendant is! The round Baltic onyx is nickel-sized and, from it hangs a tear drop of red amber. Both stones have been set in silver-tone metal by the Cherokee jeweler who fashioned it. Accompanying the pendant is a sterling silver, 18-inch-long chain. Silver a...more>>

A howling wolf set against the full moon and tall evergreens is part of the burnt-work designs that Clarence Polches, Mi'kmaq, has added to this small wooden jewelry chest.  Pyrographic (or burnt work) wolf prints appear on the front along with a traditional Wabanaki double-curve design ...more>>

This radiant starburst beaded belt buckle was hand-made by Lakota artisan Virgil Plenty Bull, a member of the Pine Ridge Reservation who passed away in 2009. The buckle was produced in the late 1980s.

What makes the buckle so stunning is that the front is made completely of beads, from ye...more>>

This gorgeous, early-1990s, small Ojibwa purse is handmade of black tanned deer hide, and its shoulder strap and fringe are made of the same color and from the same hide. In the top center of the purse flap appears a beautifully hand-beaded Eagle image composed of white, yellow, red and black bea...more>>

This little sculpture can guide the student of spiritual pursuits in two ways: first, through the totem teacher it represents (Coyote), and second, through the healing vibrations of the gemstone from which the image has been carved (Opalite).

Some of the spiritual lessons that Coy...more>>

This eye-catching Ojibwa pottery vase comes from the Curve Lake region of Ontario, Canada. The vase is glazed in part with a dark brown tone over the natural cream-colored surface of the pottery. It is decorated with traditional tribal figures all around its surface, and signed “Whetung Oji...more>>

These stunning beaded mukluks with elegant embroidered flower designs were handmade in the mid-1980s. Traditionally, mukluks are made to wear in warm weather outside on natural surfaces. They are lined on the inside with a cotton fabric, and the outside has durable, tanned moose hide, felt, and r...more>>

This gorgeous and quite unusual Cheyenne beaded woman’s barrette was acquired from an Idaho estate sale in 1982. Shaped as a butterfly but designed with blue, red and white seed beads to look like a United States Flag, this hand-made barrette, fashioned in the late 1970s, shows great crafts...more>>

This soft and colorful teddy bear acquired from a Las Cruces, New Mexico estate sale was crafted by a Navajo artisan from pieces of an old Pendleton blanket. This fortunate bear has beautiful geometric patterns of pastel hues of turquoise, black, orange, yellow, and cream colors. The bear is acce...more>>

Hand-carved from a deep-red clay-colored piece of pipestone (as known as catlinite), this delightful turtle fetish was designed by Zuni artist Jesus Espino, who lives in western New Mexico. Eight traditional sun ray images have been carved into the shell of the turtle, and at the center where the...more>>

This majestic wolf face of this stunning basket has great depth to it. The dyed dark, natural white and natural tan quills give the face an almost three-dimensional quality. The red-dyed tongue and yellow eyes are quite realistic, especially when depicted with porcupine quills on a birch bark med...more>>

This beautiful sacred pipe composed of a Catlinite (also referred to as pipestone) bowl and a wooden stem was handmade by Swift Horse (or Mark Pederson). His signature appears carved into the bottom of the wonderfully detailed Catlinite eagle claw pipe bowl. Catlinite is a soft stone mineral depo...more>>

Navajo potters, such as Bernice Esbats, have made quite a name for themselves with their innovative wares that combine traditional techniques with contemporary styling. All carved and etched pottery pieces are hand-carved and hand-painted. The carving is very precise and time consuming. The use o...more>>

This radiant starburst beaded belt buckle was hand-made by Lakota artisan Verine Laffery, a member of the Pine Ridge Reservation. The buckle was produced in the late 1980s.

What makes the buckle so stunning is that the front is made completely of beads, from white, yellow, orange and red ...more>>

This vintage beaded Ojibwa tobacco/pipe bag is an authentic item dating from the 1940s. It was bought from a central Minnesota estate auction.

Bag is cotton with a 7” by 8” velvet bottom panel front and back. The pouch’s interior is also lined with cotton. Each panel has...more>>

Hand-carved from a beautiful piece of Southwestern onyx, this gorgeous horse fetish was designed by Zuni artist Bernard Laiwakete, who lives in western New Mexico. On one side of the horse, a turquoise heart-line has been placed into the onyx, extending from the horse’s mouth to belly. Both...more>>

This finely and expertly carved Liganmi wooden vase was handcrafted in the late 1980s by Aboriginal artisan Dhuwanydjika, an early artist of the Yirrkala Arts and Crafts Centre (a community-controlled art center of Northeast Arnhem Land of Australia). This impressive piece features a band of flow...more>>

This small wooden carving of a bear by Cherokee artisan D. Smith was produced in the early 1990s. The surface of the wooden sculpture is very smooth to the touch, yet the facial details of the bear are exquisite. The artist’s signature has been etched into the belly of the bear.

Fro...more>>

This unique necklace created by Sioux artist and designer Kathleen Kills Thunder in the late 1980s is composed of green glass trade beads, small black glass seed beads, medium-sized black glass globes and platform beads, and very large, chunky green with gold sparkle composite beads. The largest ...more>>

This stunning Oglala Sioux beaded necklace was handcrafted in the mid-1980s by jewelry-maker Kessie Fire Thunder at Pine Ridge, South Dakota. This beautifully designed traditional necklace has a central rosette that measures 2.25 inches in width and includes a colorfully beaded fringe that drops ...more>>

Though some folks object to the hunt, those of us who are Native American understand that one of the perennial mysteries of the great Circle of Life is that “life takes life in order to survive,” be it for food, clothing or protection. The red fox that gifted this gorgeous pelt was hu...more>>

From the 1920s comes this vintage Southwest Native American knife sheath, composed of leather and glass beads. The dark brown leather body of the knife sheath was hand-sewn with sturdy elk hide to hold securely a knife; it also has elk-hide fringe that has curled due to age. The diverse colored g...more>>

This exquisite bobcat fetish was hard-carved by Zuni artisan Ernie Mackel. The fetish is carved from picture jasper, and the artist has completely detailed the pelt of the bobcat, including the underbelly and the claws on the paws. Carving in this way gives the bobcat a strong, compact body with ...more>>

From Navajo potter Mary Arnl comes this stunning ceramic jar of horses galloping and chasing after each other. This mid-1980s hand-painted jar depicts the horses at dusk, with the primary colors of black horses over a background of dark brown (on the top and bottom edges of the jar), red, orange ...more>>

This nice carving of a kangaroo with tall background grass was purchased in 1976 by the parents of friends of Dogbotz Boneyard co-owner Patrick Price. The sculpted kangaroo image covers about 85 percent of one side of the emu egg. The rough grayish surface of the natural egg covers the reminder. ...more>>

Hand-carved from a beautiful piece of apple coral with a shell beak, this stunning hummingbird fetish was designed by Zuni artist Jason Red Elk, who lives in western New Mexico. This fetish is in wonderful vintage condition, and it is signed “Red Elk” on the bottom of its base.