Squash Blossom Jewelry
One of the most recognizable artifacts of the Native American Culture. Traditionally associated with the Navajo silversmiths, rather it is a fascinating consolidation of influences traced historically back hundreds of years.
The classic squash blossom necklace features a crescent shaped pendant, called "Naja" (Nah-Hah), the Navajo word for "crescent." A symbol that was common to many of the earliest civilizations. In the late 1500s and early 1600s, the saddles and bridles of huge muscled horses of the Spanish Conquistadors where fitted with sterling silver crescent-shaped pendants of Moorish origin.
For the next 200 years, as the two cultures cycled through various phases of peace and conflict in the struggle for power, the Navajo adopted and incorporated these and other traditional Spanish ornaments into their jewelry.
Early on, the Navajo wore the Nah-Hah as an ornament of beauty and these pieces also came to symbolize wealth. Eventually became associated with crop fertility and worn during ceremonies related to the agricultural cycles. It was customary for Medicine men to wear them as well.
I found this on Ebay:
