Faust Gallery
Dina Huntinghorse
Jeweler · Wichita
Dina Huntinghorse is a Wichita jeweler and a citizen of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes of Oklahoma. She works in sterling silver and gold, setting high-grade turquoise, coral, and sugilite into pieces built around the animals of the Plains: horses, wolves, bears, and buffalo. She is one of the few Wichita artists working at the highest level of contemporary Native jewelry.
A Plains Upbringing
Dina was raised in southwestern Oklahoma. The Wichita once lived across the southern Plains, from present-day Kansas to Texas, and today the tribe is based near Anadarko. Horses hold an important place in Wichita culture, and they became one of Dina’s first subjects. She began as a painter and drawing artist, and horses appeared in her work from the start.
From Beadwork to Metal
Her aunt taught her beadwork, and for years Dina focused on beaded deerskin purses, a popular piece at art shows. The Heard Museum in Phoenix added several of her purses to its permanent collection.
In 1989, she married Herbert Taylor, a Navajo silversmith who became one of the most admired jewelers of his generation. Herbert had taught himself silversmithing in 1972, went full time in 1984, and added gold to his work in 1988. He taught Dina inlay, lapidary, and overlay, and the two worked side by side. Herbert died in 1996 at just 36.
Her Own Voice
After Herbert’s death, Dina carried his techniques forward and developed a style all her own. She designs and builds each piece by hand. Her horse pendants became especially well known, and wolves, bears, buffalo, and weather imagery appear throughout her work. She also works in 14k and 18k gold and diamonds, materials rarely seen in the jewelry traditions of the Plains tribes.
At the 2000 Santa Fe Indian Market, she won first place for gold bracelets and second place in gold rings, pins, pendants, and earrings. She continues to exhibit at the Santa Fe Indian Market and the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, and her work belongs to private collections and galleries across the Southwest.
