You can call them fetishes, charms, amulets, talismans or simply good luck pieces, virtually every culture has them.  In contemporary Euro-American culture such items as a rabbit's foot for portable good luck or a St. Christopher medal for safety when traveling are only two of the many times we hope such symbols will help us all in an uncertain world.  Most of the fetishes created today might best be called "carvings" because they are made as art objects, however, they can become true fetishes if properly blesses and assembled with other ceremonial items.

While many Native American tribes produce and use fetishes, the most renowned fetish carvers are undoubtedly the Zuni, or Ashiwi as they call themselves.  Zuni religious tradition relates how certain fetishes came to be.  The basic version begins when the world was wet and muddy.   This unstable earth needed to be dried and hardened.  The task was done by the twin sons of the Sun Father.  They shot lightning to the four corners of the world.   In the process, the animals of prey that threatened the existence of humans were petrified into stone.  In a translation by the ethnologist Frank Cushing, the Zuni Twins told these stone animals, "That ye may not be evil unto men, but that ye made to serve instead of to devour mankind."  Thus, whether one believes in the fetish's ability to help or not, there is still the benefit of focusing the remarkable power of one's mind more effectively on a specific task or goal by possession of this meaningful image.

We currently have several fetishes made by two outstanding families, the Quandilacy's and the Eriachio's so browse through and see what you might like to purchase.

#0136F Faye Quandilacy, Zuni.

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#0138F Emery Eriacho, Zuni.

This high quality hunting fetish is made of rhodochrosite and created by a well known carver within this artistic family.

Size: 1" high by 2-1/4" wide.
Price: $230. Mint Condition.
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