• Materials: Silver 925 / Sterling Silver
• Width: 7/32"(5mm) Band
• Gemstones: Ammolite / 5/8" X 15/32" / 16mm X 12mm
• Totem Symbols: Bear, Wolf
• Artists: Carrie Matilpi
• Styles: Canadian First Nations, Gemstone Jewelry
• Categories: Rings

Wolf

Wolf is a symbol of loyalty, great strength, determination, and strong family ties. Highly respected, the wolf is seen as having a great likeness to people, as they form family units, hunt in groups, and mate for life. They are considered wise, understanding, and steadfast. Some First Nation groups believe that great hunters are reincarnated as wolves.

Bear

The Bear symbolizes strength, independence, learned humility, and teaching. The protector of the animal kingdom. With great power and human like qualities, the Bear is known as the Elder Kinsman and is always treated as a high-ranking guest.

Ammolite

(Multi colored / Hardness: 3.5-4 / Source: Canada) Ammolite is a relatively new gemstone only having received official gemstone status by the World Jewellery Confederation in 1981. It is mostly found in the Bearpaw formation of the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Southern Alberta. The stone itself is the fossilized shell of the prehistoric sea creature Ammonite. They date back to when Alberta was part of an inland sea about 70 to 75 million years ago. Traditionally Ammolite is called the “buffalo stone” by the Blackfoot Nation and was thought to bring luck to its owners. Legend says that during a long and cold winter when the people were going hungry a Blackfoot woman followed a song heard in the cottonwood trees and there found a piece of Ammolite and buffalo hair. She brought these items back to her people where they performed a buffalo ceremony and the next day the buffalo returned saving them from starvation. The stone is said to represents life’s balance; bringing prosperity, enlightenment and luck. It connects you to the environment physically and spiritually, allowing you to harmonize with the world around you.

Carrie Matilpi

Carrie was born in 1976, her tribes are Kwakiutl, Carrier and Cree. She started silver work in 1994 in an apprenticeship under her father Charles Harper who had been apprenticed under great Lloyd Wadhams in the mid 1970’s. The other major influences of Carrie’s native designs are from her uncles, they are Douglas and Glen Harper, Dennis and George Matilpi, all of them are well known for their wood carvings and jewelry engraving.