Brown Eagle picture of creator of the jewelry on NativeAmericanJewels

	Brown Eagle
Brown Eagle - "His gift wears well with friends" The hands calloused and strong from a life of working the land, moved delicately and deftly with the tiny custom pliers. A small twist here. A quick snap there. What was a simple length of slender silver wire was slowly becoming a beautiful bracelet. "Pretty isn't it?" Brown Eagle said, pausing to examine his work in progress. There was no need to rush on this peaceful morning. He had been up since 4:30 a.m., working contentedly in the humble trailer where he lives with his two cats Squeaky and Little Bit. The table before him is arrayed with more special pliers and plastic containers of red, black and silver beads, along with turquoise stones and bone. It was more than a labor of love for Brown Eagle, now 75 years old. It is an expression of his heritage. Part Cherokee and part Potawatomi, Brown Eagle grew up as an only child on an Indian Reservation in Muskogee, Oklahoma. It was a tough environment where drugs and alcohol were the twin scourge, but young Brown Eagle never fell prey, even after his father died at a young age. His grandfather, Silver Eagle saw to that.







	One of the things Silver Eagle showed his grandson was how to make Indian jewelry which he gave to the Tribal elders. They were fine pieces too; similar to what their ancestors wore. "I watched him in fascination working with silver and turquoise and feathers" Brown Eagle recalled. Then he'd say "Your hands are nimble. Try one". The first thing I made was a seed-bead bracelet. I was proud of it, and I had it for ages. What his grandfather taught him means even more now. It is a cherished gift, one he shares with other people. "Indian people have always made different things; rugs, pottery, etc." Brown Eagle says. "My grandfather was showing me the way Indians have treated precious stone and precious metal from the beginning of time. You've made something beautiful to add to this world. I know I can produce something nobody else has made exactly that way."

His handiwork is unique indeed. Although the beads, chains, and such have to be ordered, Brown Eagle's hand-made jewelry creations are all originals. No two necklaces, rings or bracelets are alike. "Grandpa gave me the basics and I took it from there, let my mind work;" he said. I fiddled with jewelry all my life, but after I retired in 1995 and got to the point that I couldn't landscape any more, I decided I've got to do something else. So the best thing was to go back to making jewelry." He makes jewelry with a passion. He rises before dawn every day and goes along as he can, his cats, Little Bit and Squeaky, his only company. "A lot of time, I'll sit here until after daylight making jewelry. I'm wide awake. I've got time to think. Your mind is open," he said. "Then maybe in the evening I'll hit on an idea, come out here and try it."

Beauty aside, there is a spiritual quality to Brown Eagle's work. One necklace, for example has three silver feathers dangling from it. "Know what they mean?" he asked. "The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. This was something the Indian believed in long before the white man ever set foot here."

Brenda Hoshaw understands Brown Eagle's words and his work. A Palmetto resident who researched her own Cherokee ancestry, Horshaw, aka "Morning Dew" met Brown Eagle at a yard sale and a friendship was born. "I grew up around this type of Indian Jewelry," the Indiana native said. "Brown Eagle uses materials the Indians have always used, real turquoise, top grade silver and real bone. That caught my eye right away. Brown Eagle does wonderful work. He's proud of it."

Popi Ameres, longtime Manatee County restaurateur, respects Brown Eagle's work too. Brown Eagle sets up his jewelry stand every Sunday morning outside Popi's III near Port Manatee. Ameres has purchased his jewelry as gifts for her family and friends. "You buy from him and it's like he is making it especially for you. You don't see the same thing twice. Brown Eagle is proud of what he does. He is a good man." That goes for Brown Eagle in other ways too. He gives it away too. "Especially if it's a child," said Brown Eagle, who was divorced and childless. "I went so many years without, didn't have the money to buy anything. I remember what it's like." And when Brown Eagle does bestow his jewelry on someone, he hopes they appreciate its meaning as much as he does. "If they will take care of it, the piece will last for years after I'm dead and gone." Which hopefully is a long way off. He said his grandfather, Silver Eagle, lived to be 117 years old.

You can reach Brown Eagle by sending him an email at CarlsonDcar@cs.com