White Buffalo Pieces

Native American White Buffalo Pieces 

 

White Buffalo Turquoise
(Rock Rollers-5/01, via Rockhound Gazette-12/00, Glacial Drifter-4/01)
When discovered in the Dry Creek Mine on the Shoshone Indian Reservation near Battle Mountain in 1993, the [the discoverers] were not sure what it was. Because of it’s hardness, it was decided to send it to have is assayed. Their suspicions proved correct. It was, in fact, white turquoise. It was not until 1996 that it was finally made into jewelry.

The Shoshone Indians are not known for jewelry work and as a consequence they sell or trade it to the Navajo in Arizona who then work it into jewelry. Because white turquoise is as rare as a white buffalo, the Indians call it “White Buffalo” turquoise.
Turquoise gets it’s color from the heavy metals in the ground where it forms. Blue turquoise forms when there is copper present, which is the case with most Arizona turquoise. Green turquoise forms where iron is present, as with most Nevada turquoise. White turquoise forms where there are no heavy metals present, which turns out to be a very rare occurrence. To date, no other vein of white turquoise has been discovered anywhere else. When this current vein runs out, that will be the last of it.