Derrick & Nichelle Edaaki • Inlay Concho Belt
The first thing I did was count the birds.
Not because I needed to.
Because every time I looked down the belt I noticed another one doing something different.
One is perched.
One is flying.
One is upside down.
One is carrying something.
One is looking back over its shoulder.
None of them are repeated.
That’s when I realized this wasn’t a pattern.
It was a story.
You don’t wear this belt all at once. People experience it one concho at a time, almost like turning the pages of a picture book. Every panel reveals another tiny moment, each one built from impossibly precise pieces of jet, turquoise, coral, shell, and stone.
It’s joyful.
That’s actually the word that kept coming back to me.
Joyful.
Derrick and Nichelle Edaaki have become some of the most celebrated contemporary Zuni artists working today because they combine extraordinary lapidary precision with unmistakable personality. Their work honors traditional Zuni inlay while feeling completely their own. You recognize an Edaaki piece almost immediately—not because it follows convention, but because it tells a story only they could have told.
Artifact Registry
Artifact: The Birds Who Remembered the Way
Maker: Derrick & Nichelle Edaaki
Tribe: Zuni Pueblo
Date: Contemporary
Materials: Sterling Silver, Turquoise, Jet, Coral, Mother-of-Pearl, and Shell Inlay
Form: Narrative Inlay Concho Belt
Weight: 245.2 grams
Construction: Hand-fabricated sterling silver concho belt comprising individually inlaid circular conchos connected by handmade sterling links. Every panel features a unique bird rendered in traditional Zuni stone-to-stone inlay.
Collector’s Gallery Value: $9,500–11,500
Estimated value for an equivalent example offered through a premier gallery specializing in Native American jewelry.
Curator’s Field Observation
Rather than repeating a single motif, each concho presents a distinct avian composition, transforming the belt into a continuous visual narrative. The exceptional precision of the inlay, the consistency across every panel, and the whimsical individuality of each bird demonstrate why Derrick and Nichelle Edaaki are regarded among the foremost contemporary Zuni inlay artists. Large narrative works of this complexity are exceptionally labor-intensive and seldom encountered.
Hespera Field Guide
Species:
The Traveling Parliament
Members: Fourteen extremely opinionated birds.
Known For: Never agreeing on the fastest route, yet always arriving together.
Favorite Activity: Interrupting each other’s stories.
Field Note: Every bird insists it’s the main character.
Collector Warning: You’ll eventually choose a favorite. It won’t stay your favorite for long.
Eric’s Notes from the Field
I think what I love most is that nobody rushed this.
You simply can’t.
Every feather.
Every eye.
Every little leaf.
Every tiny piece of shell.
Someone sat down and fit those pieces together one at a time until they disappeared into the picture.
That’s one of the things I admire most about Zuni inlay at this level.
It asks for patience.
And when artists like Derrick and Nichelle are the ones doing the asking…
The result feels effortless.
Derrick & Nichelle Edaaki • Inlay Concho Belt
The first thing I did was count the birds.
Not because I needed to.
Because every time I looked down the belt I noticed another one doing something different.
One is perched.
One is flying.
One is upside down.
One is carrying something.
One is looking back over its shoulder.
None of them are repeated.
That’s when I realized this wasn’t a pattern.
It was a story.
You don’t wear this belt all at once. People experience it one concho at a time, almost like turning the pages of a picture book. Every panel reveals another tiny moment, each one built from impossibly precise pieces of jet, turquoise, coral, shell, and stone.
It’s joyful.
That’s actually the word that kept coming back to me.
Joyful.
Derrick and Nichelle Edaaki have become some of the most celebrated contemporary Zuni artists working today because they combine extraordinary lapidary precision with unmistakable personality. Their work honors traditional Zuni inlay while feeling completely their own. You recognize an Edaaki piece almost immediately—not because it follows convention, but because it tells a story only they could have told.
Artifact Registry
Artifact: The Birds Who Remembered the Way
Maker: Derrick & Nichelle Edaaki
Tribe: Zuni Pueblo
Date: Contemporary
Materials: Sterling Silver, Turquoise, Jet, Coral, Mother-of-Pearl, and Shell Inlay
Form: Narrative Inlay Concho Belt
Weight: 245.2 grams
Construction: Hand-fabricated sterling silver concho belt comprising individually inlaid circular conchos connected by handmade sterling links. Every panel features a unique bird rendered in traditional Zuni stone-to-stone inlay.
Collector’s Gallery Value: $9,500–11,500
Estimated value for an equivalent example offered through a premier gallery specializing in Native American jewelry.
Curator’s Field Observation
Rather than repeating a single motif, each concho presents a distinct avian composition, transforming the belt into a continuous visual narrative. The exceptional precision of the inlay, the consistency across every panel, and the whimsical individuality of each bird demonstrate why Derrick and Nichelle Edaaki are regarded among the foremost contemporary Zuni inlay artists. Large narrative works of this complexity are exceptionally labor-intensive and seldom encountered.
Hespera Field Guide
Species:
The Traveling Parliament
Members: Fourteen extremely opinionated birds.
Known For: Never agreeing on the fastest route, yet always arriving together.
Favorite Activity: Interrupting each other’s stories.
Field Note: Every bird insists it’s the main character.
Collector Warning: You’ll eventually choose a favorite. It won’t stay your favorite for long.
Eric’s Notes from the Field
I think what I love most is that nobody rushed this.
You simply can’t.
Every feather.
Every eye.
Every little leaf.
Every tiny piece of shell.
Someone sat down and fit those pieces together one at a time until they disappeared into the picture.
That’s one of the things I admire most about Zuni inlay at this level.
It asks for patience.
And when artists like Derrick and Nichelle are the ones doing the asking…
The result feels effortless.
