one of a set of two buttons made from nickels

unrecorded Diné (Navajo) artist, artist

one of a set of two buttons made from nickels, 1937–1957

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: copper; silver

Dimensions:
Object Height/Diameter (Height x Diameter): 0.5 x 2 cm
Object Height/Diameter (Height x Diameter): 0 3/16 x 0 13/16 in

Credit line: Gift of Ann and Britt Brown, Blackbear Bosin Collection

Accession number: 2007.0452.02

On display: Stewart Gallery

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When Diné artists began silversmithing in the 1800s, they replaced bone, stone, and shell buttons with domed silver ones. They often repurposed silver coins, like these “Indian head” nickels minted in 1936 and 1937, to create decorative buttons. These small objects reference many themes in this exhibition: artistic process and creativity, repurposing materials, commodification and exchange, and the complex impacts of colonialism on Indigenous populations and natural resources.