Native American Indian sterling silver crucifix

Anybody know what tribe made this ? It's sterling but not marked .

Thank You

 

No one can identify an unmarked piece for tribal affiliation, it could have been anywhere by a hobbyist,student,etc.

 

The stones look like malachite to me.

 

Hi, Billy-
If you're planning to sell, note that what you have is a cross, not a crucifix.

 

That doesn't read Native American to me, although it is at least partially hand made.

 

Yes the stones are malachite. And as SBSVC said, a cross, not a crucifix.
You can't tell a tribal affiliation from this one. It is inspired by the style of the Zuni Dishta family, but that is not enough to say it is Zuni.
This particular setting of the stones is often called 'snake eye'.

 

I do wince at the use of the word tribe in this context.

 

I can understand that. Native American tribes are usually called nations now. The term tribal affiliation seem to have stayed for some reason.
Many Native Americans don't mind the word tribe, though, and use it with pride.

Tribes were originally Roman patrician groups, but the term developed into meaning social groups that are not organized as states.
I have had a rant about the indiscriminate use of the word tribal for anything non-Western before, so I won't bother you again. That's a whole other matter anyway. (But I still hate it.)

 

Looks more like Coptic (African)....to me