Tribal Art Holiday Loyalty Sale - Starts Now. Save 25%

Do I smell turkey roasting? Hmm.

Thanksgiving must be near.

That means it’s time for Aboriginals’ Annual Holiday Loyalty Sale.

From today through November 22, 2009, we are offering our loyal e-newsletter and this blog subscribers 25% off every purchase.

Give the love of your life a beautiful authentic Native American jewelry bracelet, pendant or other item of adornment at 75% below the regular price.

Save 25% on a beautiful Native American Pueblo pot, storyteller or Nativity set.

Any fetish collector in your circle will be gratefully impressed by a Zuni, Cochiti, San Felipe or Navajo carving.

Check out our extraordinary collection African tribal masks and carvings, charming Inuit items, make-you-smile Navajo folk art pieces and traditional tribal art by world-class Australian Aboriginal artists.

Everything on our websites is yours at 25% off the listed price. Just include this code – “Tribal 2009” - in your order. We’ll take the 25% off at “check-out”.

(We are not changing the listed prices on the web site because these discounts are available only to loyal subscribers and when the sale is over on November 23, the original prices will stand.)

Don’t wait too long. Choice items will go first. And we will need time to ship before Christmas.

Thank you for your loyalty.

ATADA Theft Alert - Native American jewelry

The Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association has posted a new alert concerning thirty-five pieces of antique American Indian Jewelry stolen from a Tucson, Arizona gallery on October 15 2009.

A full report on the stolen pieces of Native American Indian jewelry can be accessed on the ATADA theft alert page, http://www.atada.org/theft.html#sublette2009.

ATADA issues these alerts and we at Native-JewelryLink.com forward them based on experience that widely publicizing the theft and the items involved makes it difficult for the thieves to fence or sell them. If the thieves attempt to sell the items, someone in the field may recognize one or more of the stolen pieces and report the thieves to the police.

It is a crime to possess stolen property. Note that there is no statute of limitations on stolen property in the USA. Let the buyer beware!

Go Pink for the Cure with this Pink Shell Native American necklace

In support of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Aboriginals: Art of the First Person will donate 40% of the purchase price of this stunning sterling silver and pink shell Navajo necklace to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Organization's efforts to find a cure for breast cancer.


Adorn yourself or someone you love with this elegant choker-style necklace and Susanne Waites, proprietor of Aboriginals: Art of the First Person and operator of the web site, Native-JewelryLink will donate 40% of the purchase price to this worthwhile cause. The contribution will be made in the name of the purchaser.

When others notice your necklace you can use it as an opportunity extend awareness of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure efforts.

You can see an enlarged photo of this beautiful piece of authentic, Native American Navajo jewelry by clicking on the photo above.

Revisiting Australian Tiwi Aboriginal art

An update on Tiwi art in Australia by William Ernest and Susanne Waites, owners of Aboriginals: Art of the First Person.

As you may know Susanne and I once lived in Australia, which was where we developed our love for tribal art. That affection started with the art of Australian Aborigines.

As our exposure increased and expanded, we traveled to many Aboriginal sites in the country. One of our favorites, to which we paid a repeat visit during our last travel to and through Australia, was the Tiwi Islands of Bathurst and Melville.

These two island, sitting where the Arafura Sea meets the Timor Sea, about 50 miles offshore from Darwin, NT, are unique even vs. Aboriginal communities elsewhere in Australia.

They have a different history and the inhabitants speak a different language. As a result, the art created by the Tiwi people has its own distinctive character.

Melville Island, the larger of the two is second only to Tasmania in area. Bathurst Island is smaller but in many respects more significant since it is home to Nguiu, site of an airport, and the most prominent of three Aboriginal Art Centres on the islands. A narrow strait, the Aspley Strait, separates the two islands.


The physical sensation of the Tiwi islands is one of pungent aromas, heavy humidity and a hot, jungle tropical quality. The smells of local flora hang heavy in the air. The sense of remoteness from the rest of the world and the rest of Australia is intensified by the surrounding stands of equatorial timber.

The Tiwi people are open, friendly and welcoming. They also are extraordinarily talented, creating paintings, prints, textile designs and ochre-painted sculptures rich with traditions of Tiwi mythology and ceremonies. An example is the striking work done on the Pukumani poles. These are carved from ironwood and decorated with designs from the Tiwi past. A common feature of the painting is the cross-hatching used to fill negative space. Another common design element is the circle, replicating symbols associated with Tiwi ceremonies such as the Pukumani and the Kulama.

The Pukumani is a mortuary cermony, carried out over several months following the death of a Tiwi person. Tiwi belief is that the dead person's spirit remains in the living world until it is released by the final Pukumani.

The tall and sturdy Pukumani poles are placed around the burial site. They require weeks of preparation including harvesting the logs, carving the intensely grained wood and painting ritual designs on the surface. Participants in Pukumani dance and sing around the grave and the posts.

When the ceremony is finished, the poles are left to decay, often capped by inverted bark baskets called tungas. These would have been used by the dead person during life to carry and contain food and water.

Tiwi art centres of Jilimara Arts & Crafts and Munupi Arts & Crafts, are located respectively at Milikapiti (Snake Bay) and Pirlangimpi (Garden Point) on Melville Island. Both centres are managed by coordinators assigned by the Australian government. Jilimara, which is Tiwi for "body painting" also refers to the designs painted in detail on the bodies of dancers and on the Pukumani poles. Munupi also became a center for large murals and panels an for making limited edition prints.

The third art centre is Tiwi Art and Design, near Nguiu. Tiwi Design is much more concerned with the creation of textiles designed with traditional Tiwi imagery. They find their way into silk-screened or hand-painted garments and fabrics.



All three art centres are joined in a consortium of collaboration and continuity. The old traditions of Tiwi art regularly meet the individual self-expression of younger artists. But the latter always respect the old, while extending imagery into new areas.

The days we spent on Bathurst and Melville Islands were among the most stumlating and satisfying experiences we encountered with Australian Aboriginal art. Now we learn that the traditions of Tiwi art that were displayed and celebrated this year at the Telstra Awards, Australia's recognition of outstanding Aboriginal art, have encouraged even further growth and development of art and artists at the Tiwi art centres.

For further information about Australian Aboriginal and Tiwi art, we recommend the following resources:

The Australian: "Creative Worlds Collide in Tiwi Art" Aboriginal Art Online Aboriginal Art & Culture : An American Eye Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory

We also refer you to the Australian Aboriginal art pages at TribalWorks, our web site featuring a range of tribal art.

Tribal Art Theft Alert

The Antique Tribal Art Dealers Asscociation has issued a new notice about stolen goods.

"A Zia Jar and a pair of American Indian Hi Top Mocs were stolen from a Santa Fe, NM
Gallery during the night of October 2, 2009. Photos and details of the stolen merchandise are posted at http://www.ATADA.org/theft.html#molloy2009.

Please check out the images posted on the Theft Alert Page and familiarize yourself with them so that you will be prepared if someone offers any of these for sale."

History proves that stolen items that receive wide publicity are almost impossible to sell. There is no statute of limitations on stolen property in the USA.

This notice is forwarded as a public service by Susanne and William Ernest Waites, dealers in tribal art and owners of web sites offering Native American Jewelry, American Pueblo Pottery, Zuni and other carvings and other African, Australian, Arctic and Native American tribal art.