Bead the Buddha

The only ancient type of bead still made in quantity today by native people is the heishii, made by Navajos and some pueblo people. </p><p>The ancient techniques are still used. Shells (especially olive shell), slices of turquoise, and occasionally other semi-precious stones are broken into small pieces. A hand-pump drill makes a small hole through each piece, drilling from both sides if it is thick. The heishii are then strung. The string is rolled on a piece of fine sandstone until they are smoothed into uniform cylinders around the string-hole. The smaller the bead, the more work involved, so the more expensive they are. Heishii necklaces are always many - stranded, sometimes all of a kind, but turquoise with shell heishii are also common.