History of Native American turquoise jewelry

In the southwestern part of the USA, the beautiful blue-green turquoise has long been prized by Native Americans. In where are now known as New Mexico and Nevada, Native Americans once built a culture on mining and making turquoise items. Here is the introduction about history of Native American turquoise jewelry.
Before the first European settlers arrived, Native American Indian peoples had been making turquoise jewelry by made for hundreds of years. This blue-stone was highly prized for its special color, and gained popularity among native peoples.
Later when European settled in the new world, they brought with them the technology of working metals. The American Indians learned the silver smith and paired turquoise with silver to develop a special style of jewelry.
The early 1890s witnessed turquoise first prevailed in the US. But at that time it was the Persian turquoise rather than native turquoise that was the major demand. It was not until 1900 did Americans began to recognize that the Native American turquoise was as valuable and thus began to be mined turquoise in Nevada. Big jewelry companies like Tiffany produced many turquoise jewelry that were popular among the Americans.
But the turquoise jewelry was not in Indian style. At that time Native Americans still made traditional turquoise jewelry with simple tools. In the 1920s to 1930s, Native people in Arizona and New Mexico began to notice that sales of Native American jewelry had the potential of providing a reliable income source to tribal members. As a result, native people founded several institutions to train young men to make American style sterling and turquoise jewelry for trade.
Nowadays the Native American turquoise jewelry has gain popularity all over the world, and they are used in mainstream culture as a casual wear. It is the jewelry that combines modern fashion with traditional elements.