Carved with Care: Zuni Fetishes and Carvings

Thirty-five miles south of Gallup, New Mexico, approximately 12,000 people live on the Pueblo of Zuni reservation. Called Zuni by the Spanish colonists, they refer to themselves as the A:shiwi. The people are renowned for their fetish carvings which were made as early as 650 C.E. by the ancestors of the present day Zuni, the Anasazi. A fetish is an object believed to hold supernatural powers, or a spirit living inside. In modern times, an animal carving must be blessed by a Zuni priest to be considered a fetish. While not all carvings today have the power of fetishes, the term is commonly used to describe a wide variety of stone animals.

Originally used by the Zuni peoples to aid hunters and
healers, these animal carvings quickly became popular with collectors of Native art after World War II. Carvers and carving families began producing animals not native to the Southwest region and whimsical animals such as unicorns. From ancient times to the present, traditional to unusual animals, Zuni people have carved fetishes with care.

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