Kewa Women's Co-op: Jewelry from the Deep Past

The people of Santo Domingo Pueblo, who call themselves Kewa, have been making and trading jewelry for longer than European civilization has existed in this hemisphere. The heishi, tiny drilled and polished shell beads strung into necklaces, have deep roots in the archaeological record of the Southwest. Shells came from distant coasts, traded hand to hand across the continent.

The tradition never stopped. Generations of Kewa artists refined techniques for turquoise, coral, jet, and shell. The women's cooperative you're passing near is part of that unbroken line, connecting a prehistoric trading economy to a living art form. When you see Santo Domingo jewelry at a market today, you're looking at a craft tradition with very deep roots, maintained through Spanish colonization, American conquest, and everything since.