Jaymus Perry has collected green and red gemstones since he was a little boy.
The green ones, called peridot, capture bad thoughts. Some Navajos place a pebble-sized piece of peridot in their hair before wrapping it into a bun. At the end of the day, they undo their bun and let the stone drop to the ground, and with it, any bad thoughts. Perry compared it to a dream catcher.
“At the end of the day, those negative thoughts go away with the stone,” Perry explained. “You actually let the stone be, let it land where it may, and you just leave it alone.”
The red ones, called chrome pyrope, are used in protection and healing ceremonies. It is common for medicine men and shamans to carry them in their medicine pouches or religious tool bags. Antique Navajo rattles contain dozens of the small stones, which is one way to tell if they are authentic, he said.
Perry, 51, shares these long-held Navajo beliefs freely, even though some shamans and medicine men may question his willingness to do so. But Perry said his family has been collecting the stones for decades, and he is one of the last of his people keeping the cultural beliefs alive. Soon, the story of the stones will be lost.
“To me, I feel that it is now fair to share it with anyone who is really interested in gems,” Perry said. “The identity crisis has kind of started – people losing interest in wanting to learn their background or wanting to know their language or wanting to know their spiritual past.”
Perry, who splits his time between Shiprock and Durango, is president of the Four Corners Gem and Mineral Club, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, making it one of the oldest nonprofits in Durango.
The club is hosting its 64th annual Gem and Mineral Show from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the La Plata County Fairgrounds. About 60 vendors from across the West will sell gems, minerals, fossils, beads, handcrafted jewelry and lapidary equipment.
It is a good opportunity for the public to view rare stones, learn about their spiritual or chemical significance and purchase handmade jewelry. The Gem and Mineral Club asks for $1 donation per person.
The Durango City Council on Wednesday passed a proclamation declaring this Gem and Mineral Club Week. In accepting the proclamation, Perry greeted city councilors and audience members in his Navajo language. It made people sit up and listen, said Jama Crawford, a volunteer at the club, who has known Perry for three years.
“He has a world view, a different way of thinking about family and ancestors and place,” Crawford said. “It was wonderful having him speak in Navajo on behalf of the gem club.”
Perry’s connection to peridot and chrome pyrope dates back to his childhood when he and his family scoured parts of the Navajo reservation for the gems. They were gathered during the summer “between certain constellation times” and then spread over sheep skin. A caravan of medicine men would come through and barter for the stones, which were then used by their tribes in ceremonies.
Perry has a unique relationship with his gems: He talks to them and listens to them. In making jewelry, certain stones will let him know if they don’t want to be a part of his designs, he said. He recalled one stone that kept popping out of a bracelet setting.
“I’m just like, ‘OK, you’re telling me you’d rather be alone than with a group of your fellows,’” he said.
When asked if the stones really possess protective powers or the ability to gather negative thoughts, Perry recalled a peyote ceremony that he and his wife attended. He placed the stones in a special formation around him and his wife to protect them from negative spirits. Another woman, a stockbroker from Phoenix, started “zapping” his wife because she was non-Navajo, he said. But her negative energy couldn’t penetrate his wife’s shell. The woman started convulsing, and the meeting had to be stopped while group members tended to her. During that time, the woman lost her spiritual center and “received a type of demonic possession for a period of a year,” Perry said.
“I knew how to protect us, I knew how to help us stay centered,” he said. “But when people are seeking to just get high or are looking at it as entertainment, they really don’t know what they’re getting themselves into.”
Denise Galley, an anthropologist who has known Perry for three years through the Gem and Mineral Club, applauds Perry’s willingness to share his culture as a means to keep it alive.
“A lot of the knowledge of the Pueblo Indians, it died out with the clans,” Galley said. “Literally, that knowledge goes away ... because the legacy isn’t propagated through the generations.”
Galley described Perry as charismatic, mild-mannered and a natural leader. Perry, who is more than 6 feet tall, commands a certain presence when he walks into a room, she said.
In addition to collecting stones and crafting jewelery, Perry is a talented writer, she said. He has written a manuscript with several stories about his childhood, including one about the first day his mother took him to boarding school, and another about a dog that attacked him.
“As eloquent as he is at shaping silver and stone, he’s even more eloquent in manipulating a second language, English, in his writing,” she said. “Some of the stories make you want to cry; they’re very gripping. He’s a master at controlling the reader and their emotions.”
His writing is another means to share his culture.
There is an adage among gem and mineral collectors: You don’t pick the stone, the stone picks you. For Perry, the connection is spiritual.
“Some people, their interest lies in the chemical makeup of the stone,” Perry said. “But for me, I’m interested in the spiritual work of the stone before the influence of the Europeans coming over ... and trying to keep those prayers going or those chants going for the next generation.”
shane@durangoherald.com
