Highly polished orange mescal bean, opera length Mission shops necklace with recycled glass beads

Orange mescal bean and recycled glass necklace called "ya't'aaye daatł'ish" which is "blue sky".

This necklace is unique among my necklaces as it uses recycled African glass. It has a very youthful beach feel to me, but could be worn anywhere. It has a very Bohemian feel to it. The necklace has a clasp but it has been sewn shut. It is an opera length necklace with a loop length of 34" it is long, and the clasp is unnecessary, but I put one on all my necklaces. The small seed beads are not recycled.

The necklace is made of highly polished red mescal beans, glass and brass beads, a large unique custom made glass bead, which is itself a work of art and it is all strung on silk cording. The beans have been polished using a special polishing process that is only done in my community, specifically only by my clan members and can only be done by hand. There are no chemicals or lacquers used on the beans to achieve this finish, as that would be seen as disrespectful to the materials. This reflective finish nears that of fired porcelain. They have a deep luster that when exposed to direct sunlight is glorious. The polishing process also brings out the character that is found in each individual bean. The ultimate goal of each piece is to coax the greatest potential beauty from within each bean that I use, shops while trying to use those materials that would have been accessible to my ancestors at my mission, Mission San Jose y Miguel de Aguayo. Mescal beans are the seeds of the Texas Mountain Laurel tree, and have been used for adornment by Texas tribes for millennia. I gather select and process every bean I use myself personally, from local trees. I'm the 8th generation of my family to have lived at the San Antonio missions.

This necklace was recently displayed at the Bullock Texas History Museum on September 30 as part of the American Indian History day exhibit.