Some of the most spectacular jewelry then and now has been created by the peoples of two very different geographic regions, the American Southwest and the Northwest Coast.

Different Native groups see the world in fundamentally different ways, and these world views are expressed in their jewelry.

Southwest Native societies have complicated social structures.

Today's Native artists, like the master artists before them, balance traditional forms with individual styles and new ideas.

While many jewelers still work in classic silver-and-turquoise styles, Navajo jewelry today is strongly marked by its great diversity and innovation.

The mesas and canyons of the Southwest have been home to Native peoples for thousands of years.

Although separated by 1,000 miles and by dramatic differences in climate, landscape and traditions, Northwest Coast and Southwest cultures share some striking similarities.

The exhibition Totems to Turquoise: Native North American Jewelry Arts of the Northwest and Southwest is co-curated by Peter Whiteley, Curator of North American Ethnology in the Museum's Division of Anthropology, and Lois Dubin, lecturer, curator, and author of several authoritative books on Native American jewelry. Advising artists are Jim Hart and Jesse Monongya.

Totems to Turquoise: Native North American Jewelry Arts of the Northwest and Southwest was designed and produced by the Museum's Department of Exhibition, under the direction of David Harvey, Vice President for Exhibition.