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Land of Spirit, Land of Stone

Sometimes you encounter a place where the hand of the Creator is evident in a dramatic way. The San Carlos Apache Nation is such a place. The story of its famous gemstones is the story of a people who are intrinsically bound to the land and its elements.

by Jordan Clary, Colored Stone's Travel Correspondent

At Peridot Mesa: If you think what’s at ground level here is scenic, you should take a look at the peridot below the ground.

For more information on the rich Apache culture, see the following websites

The official website of the Apache Nation Chamber of Commerce Nde Nation: Resources, Updates and History on the various Apache Nations Apache Gems Website for Edward Two Moons

The Apache people of San Carlos, Arizona, consider themselves more guardians than miners of the minerals on their land. “To us everything is alive. The trees. The rocks. The mountains,” says Medicine Man, Harold Kenton. “We're just the caretakers.”

And the land practically hums with gemstones. Of them, the most famous one is vibrant, grassy green peridot admired around the world. As you look across the vast mesa where it's mined and see the sparkle of green outcroppings, you know immediately this is an important deposit of this olivine.

But there's more to San Carlos than peridot. Also found there: Fire agate, demantoid garnet, black spinel, obsidian, feldspar, chalcedony. “We've been doing a lot of hiking, a lot of exploring,” says Charles Vargas, owner of Apache Gems. “We're just beginning to get an idea of what's out there.”

Like other members of the Apache Tribe, Vargas stresses the relationship between the stones and the people. “We're all crystal beings. Our bodies need the same minerals to survive. We're liquid crystal and the stones are solid crystal. Man has always looked to stones for higher understanding. There's a relationship there that needs to be respected.” Part of that respect includes praying before digging. It also means limiting the amount of gems that are taken so the resources will be available for future generations. Although heavy equipment is allowed, hand tools are the favored method for collecting.

Keeping the homes fires burning

Fire Agate from Slaughter Mountain

One San Carlos' significant finds is fire agate from Slaughter Mountain. First uncovered about 40 years ago, it's characterized by rich red and multi-colored hues. When John Stevens, who works for the tribal government, speaks about the fire agate he could be talking about a Picasso. At the outdoor shop at his home on top of a hill he holds up a stone that he found earlier this year and recently cut. “To me this is art,” he says. “When it comes out of the mountain you never know what you'll get, but you can alter how it looks by the way it's cut. There's a limited supply of good stone. And although it has never really caught onto the mainstream, people who fall in love with fire agate never let it go.”

Gem mining as a spiritual activity

Fire Agate from Slaughter Mountain

Edward Two Moons, a White Mountain Apache jeweler frequently uses fire agate and other San Carlos gemstones in his work because he trusts he will get quality stones from there. “I try to bring out our Apache heritage and culture by the use of the gemstones,” he says. “Our culture is rich which is why I also like to use gold in my work.”

The close connection between heritage and mining is reinforced by an extra step in the mining and manufacturing process that is, as far as I know, strictly Apache. “Everything we get from the mines has to go through a medicine man first. It has to be purified. Even the tools I use have to be blessed. It has to come in the right way,” Two Moons continues.

This profound connectivity between Apaches and their culture explains Two Moons' humility about his work. After telling him how innovative I think it is, he explains that he is merely a vessel. “The designs are not all my mine,” he says “It's Apache symbolism using faceted stones and finer gemstones. All I'm doing is bringing them to life. These symbols and the icons used are literally thousands of years old. I'm just highlighting them. But it's those small symbols that are important. They have substance--significance as well as beauty.” Given this feeling of sacredness, it is hardly surprising that Two Moons refuses to use stones that have been treated or enhanced in any way. Why? “For us, it's [the insistence on using natural stones] more of a spiritual thing. Use of treated stones changes the meaning.”

Gem prospecting and divination

Gem mining and jewelry manufacture the Apache way strike me as highly spiritual practices. This was especially evident watching Mike Haney, a jeweler, potter and all round artisan, hunt for gems to use in his work. He has as much a knack for finding good stones as a diviner does for finding water.

During a trip to Slaughter Mountain he takes a pole out of the truck and begins carving at an outcropping in the side of a hill. Within minutes a brilliant spark flashes in the dirt and he pulls out a chunk of rock with a small red fire agate burning like a coal. “I guess it wanted to be found,” he says holding it up to catch the glow of the setting sun. Haney says he often spends weeks alone in the mountains finding inspiration for his jewelry and pots. “A lot of what I make is mesa shaped,” he says. “It's just replicating nature, taking rigid objects and making them fluid, making them alive like the land.”

Slaughter Mountain

This isn’t rhetoric. You travel with Apache miners and artisans and soon the land does feel alive. When Haney and others talk about spirits who still dwell here, you don't doubt them. The land of San Carlos is made up of the bone, sinew and blood of Apaches who have always belonged to these hills and whose recollections remain alive in their art, in the stones and in the stories of the elders who are the holders of tradition. “We're mountain people,” says Haney. “We need the mountains to survive. If we get too far away, it doesn't feel right.” He points to the distant hills where generations of his family, stretching beyond memory, lie buried.

The Cruelties of History

Centuries ago, when Apaches looked to the distance, there was a much vaster vista to survey. Like most Indian lands, San Carlos is steeped in a bitter history. Apaches have always lived in this area as well as much of what is now the western United States and Mexico. Vargas says, “It was all Apache land although the concept of owning land was incomprehensible to us back then.”

In 1871 the U.S. government established a large portion of central Arizona as a reservation that included both the San Carlos and White Mountain Apache tribes. A few years later when silver and copper were discovered, the government re-appropriated large sections of the land. Some of this included the Sleeping Beauty Mine in nearby Globe producer of the sky blue Sleeping Beauty turquoise. In 1972 some of the land was returned.

While the Apache Reservation today totals 1.82 million acres, it remains a shadow of what it was when Geronimo, arguably the most famous Apache from the area, evaded the U.S. army in the Superstition Mountains.

San Carlos Lake

Citizens of Earth

As well known as San Carlos is to jewelers and gem lovers, it is even better known to outdoorsmen and nature lovers. Its vast natural beauty provides opportunities for backcountry hiking and it has some of the best big and small game hunting in the country. Fishermen from all parts of America come to catch the trophy largemouth bass in the pristine San Carlos Lake, as well as trout in smaller lakes and streams throughout the reservation.

For the more indoor and material minded, the Apache Gold Casino offers nightlife and gaming options. The Apache Cultural Center offers a glimpse into the spiritual and cultural history of the people.

But for me the place to be is outside watching Apache miners celebrate their heritage through gem prospecting. “The stones are medicine and their meaning is all part of the design,” Says Vargas. It's a design that shows all of us a way to live on the earth with reverence and respect, to treat everything, both the organic and inorganic elements, as a unity that teems with life.

Addendum

I'd like to express my gratitude to the members of the San Carlos Apache nation and
tribal government for their hospitality during my two trips to San Carlos.

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