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Jewelry Info Center > Native American Symbols
Native American Symbols
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Some of the symbols listed below will be ones that you have
likely seen a million times throughout Native American artwork
and jewelry, but many might be ones you don’t see as
often. It is important to remember that this is simply what
these symbols represent to the Native American culture, but
it doesn’t mean that these symbols are meant to imply
the same thing on all artwork and jewelry pieces. It is best,
however, to be informed of what these symbols do represent
to the culture of the people who made them. The following
is a list of common symbols with basic meanings that spread
over many tribes of Native Americans:
Arrows and Arrowheads
• Arrowhead—alertness
• Crossed Arrows—friendship
• Single Arrow—protection
• Lightning Arrow—swiftness
Animals and Animal Tracks
• Bear Track—good omen
• Deer Track—an abundance of prey
• Horse—journey
• Eagle—master carrier of thousands of prayers
• Snake—defiance
• Cricket—fertility, springtime
• Wolf Tracks—leadership, authority
• Frog—renewal
• Coyote—powerful hunter
Feathers
• Single Feather—symbol of honor
• Circular Feathers—prayer feathers
• Eagle Feathers—chief
Water and Rain
• Rain Clouds—good prospects
• Raindrops or rain—plentiful crops
• Running Water—constant life
Others
• Sun—the Creator, happiness and prayer
• Hand—represents man and his history
• Kokopelli—fertility spirit
• Fence—guarding good luck
• Mountain—abundance
• Plants—food, medicine, and sun
• Tribal Patterns—each pattern denotes a different
meaning, and some patterns are only used by certain tribes.
• Stars—spirits
• The Man in the Maze—life’s choices
As you can see from the above list of Native American symbols,
there are many ways to interpret a variety of symbols. Each
tribe has their own ways of using certain symbols and some
are not used at all. This list is only partial, so there are
many more symbols that are popular to many types of tribes,
but these are the most commonly repeated themes throughout
artwork, crafts and jewelry related to Native American Culture.
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