Collection: Gary & Elsie Yoyokie

From the age of 11, Gary helped out during school summer vacations at the shop “Hopi Crafts,” where he learned by watching the artists who worked there make jewelry. In high school he met Elsie (Navajo), who would later become his wife, and they married right after graduation. Gary went on to study law at Northern Arizona University, and continued making jewelry while living in Flagstaff.

Around that time, Elsie began helping with Gary's work; as she learned the techniques, the two gradually came to think up designs together and divide up the work. Just as their collaboration was getting on track, they moved back to the Hopi village of Kykotsmovi and began working in earnest as jewelry artists. Their jewelry is always grounded in the traditional style, and without abandoning that foundation, they create contemporary-style pieces.