Native American Materials – Abalone and Mother of Pearl

Native American Materials:

Abalone and Mother of Pearl

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Some Mother of Pearl can be from Abalone but not all Abalone is Mother of Pearl.

An abalone is a mollusk whose shell is iridescent on the inside. The shells are used whole as smudge bowls.

Abalone Shell for Native American Smudge Bowl

Portions of the shells are used as buttons and decorations on medicine bags.

Abalone shell disc used on Apache Medicine Bag

The ABALONE represents solace, the greatness of the oceans, a life of beauty, gentleness, caring, comfort, peacefulness, and delight. Abalone shell discs are an age old object that have been traded tribally for centuries. They are a symbol of power and protection and symbolizes ancient travels.

Mother of Pearl (MOP), also called nacre, is the inner layer of some shells. It is made when the mollusk (the organism inhabiting the shell) makes crystals – this is an oversimplification, but think of it like an oyster making pearls – very similar.

MOP is a blend of minerals that are secreted by oysters, abalone, and other mollusks and deposited inside their shells, coating and protecting their bodies from parasites and foreign objects.

Mother-of-Pearl is said to stimulate intuition, sensitivity, imagination, and adaptability and help with clarity in decision making. Mother of Pearl stirs and awakens the primordial memory of your origin in the infinite ocean of divine love and stirs this memory in every cell of your physical body thereby producing an overall calming effect as it gently stirs the life energy of your cells. Like waves lapping the shore, this stirring is steady, relaxing, and rhythmical.

Mother of Pearl Turtle Fetish by Zuni Cheryl Beyuka

Mother of Pearl has a beautiful glow and can range from a pearly white, clear or with some striation, to iridescent multicolored blues, greens, golds, pinks, whites, and purples.

Vintage Native American Pawn Mother of Pearl Ring

So…some Mother of Pearl can come from Abalone but it can also be from a variety of other fresh-water and salt-water mollusks including the pearl oyster.

Mother of Pearl Zuni Inlay Sunface by Abel Soseeah

See Wikipedia for more information on Abalone and Mother of Pearl

Paula