Colin Coonsis

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My name is Colin Coonsis. I am an established silversmith with 10 years of experience. I am three-fourths Zuni and one-quarter Navajo. I am currently 24 years old, and pursuing a degree in business administration. I have also served four years in the United States Navy.

I specialize in making contemporary Native American jewelry. My work is mostly influenced by Zuni designs and traditional concepts, but I also incorporate Navajo technique into my work, because I am part Navajo. The history of my influences includes the work of the late Jacob Haloo, who is one of many Zuni artists that revolutionized the use of overlay/inlay technique. My mother is Rolanda Haloo, the daughter of Jacob Haloo. At the age of eleven, I aggressively pursued to learn the techniques that my mother used to make jewelry. By watching and frequently asking questions, I was able to make jewelry the following year at the age of eleven.

During high school, I enrolled in jewelry-making classes and required no formal training. I soon entered my work in student art shows at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, AZ. I received 1st place awards three years in a row from the Arizona Heard Museum, and numerous awards from high school art shows. I was on active duty with the United States Navy from May 2000 to May 2004. During that period, I was unable to fully commit to my role as a silversmith. However, after I was honorably discharged from the Navy, I re-established my connections with the art of jewelry-making. In the fall of 2004, I received 1st place at the Museum of Northern Arizona Zuni show, thus establishing me as a top Zuni artist.

The Haloo family has always made fine inlayed jewelry, and each generation there after has proven one after the other, that the fine works of Jacob Haloo will carry on. With each new generation, the work becomes more intricate, and finely detailed. As I continue my education, I will also continue my work as a silversmith. Though many Native Americans will submit to the change of tides, I will commit to my talent as a silversmith and continue the works of past generations of silversmiths.

In this, I am proud to be part of perhaps one of the last generations of Zuni Pueblo silversmiths.

--Colin Coonsis, 2005