Purple Mountains Majesty

I am blessed to have my house here in Arizona situated between the Huachuca Mountains to the west and Mule Mountains to the east. At both sunrise and sunset there is a certain time when the sun hits just right and the mountains turn a beautiful shade of purple.  This necklace made of purple wampum, charoite and turquoise is a tribute to those magical purple moments.  The stacked wampum discs are separated by tiny silver saucer beads flanking Charoite rectangles and turquoise nuggets. It’s finished with a simple sterling silver hook and eye clasp.  This necklace measures approximately 21 inches.  THE STONE MEDICINE:  Wampum, made from the quahog clam shell, was used by Native Americans  prior to the arrival of the colonizing Europeans. It served as ornamentation for ceremonial dress. With the arrival of the Dutch, English, and French settlers, wampum was crafted into purple and white tubular beads, becoming one of the main sources of currency for trade between the Native Americans and t