Ms. Squaw Indian Crafts and Jewelry

    By Art Nadler

    Nothing is more upsetting than buying a piece of Indian Jewelry or clothing, turning it over and discovering that it was made in some foreign country by non-native Americans.

    That won't happen with articles sold by Ms. Squaw Indian Arts, Crafts & Jewelry. The company is owned and operated by Delaine Spilsbury, a full-blooded American Indian. Five full-time employees - all native Americans - assemble by hand such

    l traditional Indian articles as Buffalo bone chokers, breastplates, earrings, doeskin purses and skirts, masks, medicine bags, doeskin moccasins, pipes, etc. Items range in price from as little as $5 to $1,000 for a fine piece of Indian art, jewelry or full dress clothes.

    "We stick to affordable items," Spilsbury says. "We are sworn by the Indian Arts and Crafts Association to represent products correctly."

    Spilsbury says some clothing items may take up to a week to make. She says a traditional Indian choker is about a 2-1/2 day job. Rick Spilsbury, Delaine's son, handcrafts a lot of the jewelry himself, pointing out that many artists take traditional designs and create pieces with their own personal flare.

    "Other than the glass beads, everything we use is natural," Delaine Spilsbury says. "It's either critter or out of the ground." Ms. Squaw arts, crafts and jewelry are sold at the following locations:

    • North Eastern Nevada Museum, 15151 Idaho St., Elko, NV. Phone: (775) 738-3418.

    • Great Basin National Park, located seven miles west of Baker, NV., inside the Bristlecone Visitor's Bureau. Phone: 1-800-HY6-9350.

    • Nevada State Museum, 600 N. Carson St., Carson City, NV. 89701. Phone: (775) 687-4810.

    • Stewart Indian School Museum, 5366 Snyder Ave., Carson City, NV. 89701. Phone: (775) 882-6929.

    • Lost City Museum, 721 S. Moapa Valley Blvd., Overton, NV. Phone: (702) 397-2193.

    • Moapa Arts and Crafts, 30 miles north of Las Vegas off Interstate 15. Phone: (702) 864-2600.

    • Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort, 20 minutes northwest of downtown Las Vegas on US 95 North. Phone: 1-800-655-4444.

    • Smoke Signals Trading Post, 191-1 S. Frontage Road, Pahrump, NV. Phone: 1-800-546-1151.

    • Clark County Heritage Museum, 1830 S. Boulder Highway, Henderson, NV. 89015. Phone: (702) 455-7955.