Celebrating The First Americans Means Green, Not Red White And Blue

Celebrating The First Americans Means Green, Not Red White and Blue

American jade is made up of a group of semiprecious hard stones. Chief among them is a dense rock composed almost entirely of the mineral jadeite, a sodium aluminum silicate of the pyroxene family noted for its beautiful color when worked. All American works of art in jade are basically green, but they are vary widely in tone, ranging from a pale apple hue, like below, to a distinctive blue green, to almost black.

As in China, where semiprecious hard stones — also known collectively as jade — were worked from very early times, the initial use of jade in the Americas is thought to have developed from the production of tools, weapons, and ornaments of more common stone. Jade is particularly hard and therefore useful for tools and weapons. But jade’s beautiful color, and shine when polished, would have made it stand out. Over time, jade became more and more favored for works of special status, like jewelry and ceremonial items. By the Olmecs in 1000 BCE, jade was high enough of a status symbol that the stone was being carved into non-useful sculptures and being placed in royal burials, never to be seen or used again.