heishe
English
Alternative forms
- heishi, hesche, hishi, hieschi
Etymology
Variously said to be from a word for "white shell",[1] "shell",[2] or "shell bead"[3] in Eastern Keres [Term?].
Noun
heishe pl (plural only)
- Small disc- or tube-shaped beads made from shells or stones, primarily associated with the Kewa Pueblo.
References
- Theodore R. Frisbie (1974), “Hishi as Money in the Puebloan Southwest”, in Theodore R. Frisbie, editor, Collected Papers in Honor of Florence Hawley Ellis, Norman: Hooper Publishing Company, published 1975, LCCN 74-31812, page 123: “Hishi is a Kersan word meaning, "white shell." Interestingly, it also referes to a ruin occupied by people ancestral to San Felipe Pueblo (Benedict 1931: 186-187).” The citation for the book referenced is Ruth Benedict (1931), “VI. True Stories”, in Tales of the Cochiti Indians (Smithsonian Institution Bureau of Americcan Ethnology Bulletin; 98), Washington D.C.: United States Government Publishing Office, page 186: “At Kubéro (Pojoaque) the Tewa were living (who afterwards went to Hopi). They came down against White Shell Pueblo (Hishi; old site of San Felipe) and overcame the people and destroyed the pueblo.”
- Paula A. Baxter; Allison Bird-Romero (2000), “heishi, hesche, hieschi, hishi”, in Encyclopedia of Native American Jewelery, The Oryx Press, →ISBN, page 69: “In Keresan (one of the Pueblo languages), "heishi" is the word for "shell."”
- Steven Ford; Leslie Dierks (1996), “Introduction”, in Creating with Polymer Clay, Lark Books, →ISBN, page 10: “The heishi technique is an ancient method popular among many cultures for making disk-shaped beads, primarily from shells. The word comes from a Pueblo Indian word for shell bead […] ”