Ernie Washee
Diné (Navajo) silversmith and jewelry artist, Ernie Washee, was born near Crownpoint, NM. Ernie was raised by his grandmother in the small community of Mariano Lake. His clan is Deeshchii’nii (Start of the Red Streak People) and he has two brothers and two sisters. As a young boy, Ernie spent summer days riding horses with his brothers and helping his grandfather, Fred Thompson, who owned the trading post at Churchrock, NM. During the school year, Ernie attended boarding school in Crownpoint. Ernie learned the skills of silversmithing and working with semi-precious stones from his grandfather, who in turn, had learned the art from his grandfather. Working exclusively with sterling silver, Ernie carries on that family tradition today using his grandfather’s techniques, such as crafting his own stamps, milling his own silver, and cutting and polishing his own raw stones. In addition to creating pieces in the time-honored Navajo styles, Ernie implements traditional methods to carefully craft his own blend of unique, contemporary wearable-art inspired by petroglyph and pictograph imagery and ancient stories. Drawing on this inspiration has allowed Ernie to develop a line of jewelry that he calls, “rock art jewelry.” In addition, Ernie enjoys working with natural stones to craft one-of-a-kind pieces. Ernie and his wife, Rebecca, live in Blanding, Utah with their horses, cats, birds, rabbits, and turtle.
