artist RICK MANUEL Tohono O'odham

Rick Manuel is one of only a few full time silversmiths from the Tohono O”odham tribe, which is the Desert people, who’s reservation is just West of Tucson, Arizona. His tribal affiliation is with both the Akmel O’Odham tribe which is the Gila River people aka Pima and the Tohono O’Odham tribe. His tribe is formerly known as the “Papago”.

His work is very distinct, featuring *sterling silver overlay with desert symbols from his culture”. *Sterling Silver Overlay is where a sheet of sterling silver has figures cut with a jewelers saw, and then that sheet is soldered to a back plate of sterling silver. Black contrast is added to accent the figures and cut-out work.

Rick was born in Sacaton, Arizona in 1950. He is registered with Gila River Pima through his mother and with the Tohono O’Odham through his father. He grew up on the Tohono O’Odham reservation in the Santa Rosa Village and is usually referred to as Tohono O’Odham.

Out of the entire Tohono O’odham Nation, Rick was awarded the privilege of creating a sterling silver bolo tie for Pope John Paul II, when he visited Phoenix, Arizona in September of 1987.

The metal Rick uses is sterling silver, which is 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% alloy. Rick never marks his jewelry with a “sterling” mark. Rick’s comment to us is that if you know his work, he only uses sterling silver. His sterling silver earring hooks are hand twisted. They are not manufactured, as is the case with most earring hooks. Through purchasing Rick Manuel’s jewelry, you are helping support local Tucson Native American artisans.