Narrow Elk Ivory Sterling Cuff Stacker Bracelet

Description

The bracelet is 2 3/8″ wide by 1 1/2 deep and fits the average ladies wrist. Nice Big Bullseye Elk Ivory bezel set in sterling. Hand wrought from reclaimed sterling silver was melted down and hand rolled flat so as to form a sheet to cut the base from. The iv3/4″ x 3/8″ Bracelet has a hand punched detail around the perimeter of the 3/16″ narrow cuff which is 3/32″ thick.

Custom work available using your ivories or ours.

To See Our Etsy Click this link

https://www.etsy.com/shop/JewelryAndStoneArt

THE STORY OF ELK IVORY

Elk, cervus canadensis, are the only native north american land barren animal with this sort of ivory tusk. So in the mastadonian period Elk large as their cousin the bison roamed our western plains. Elk, massive and strong had bodies built to survive intense climates. Thick, muscular necks because they had to support the weight of large antlers, and two awesome tusk looming from their top lip like deadly spears. So the ice age melted and north american mammals genetically mellowed, and the large tusk receded in front of their eye teeth.

To Native Americans, wapiti means stamina, and elk tooth adorned their every occasion, especially so for women. Crow suitors supplied 300 or so tusk for a bride’s wedding dress. Bridesmaids beaded tusk into concentric rows on the gown. Because elk ivory trading by trappers and Indians was so hot, ivory became as important as horses and guns.

Settlers in the high country in the late 1800s shifted the history of Elk and ivory trade forever. Migration routes were obstacle courses of fences, buildings and plowed fields.

Popularity

Ivory tusks were popular for making rings and watch fobs and settlers made extra money selling legally harvested ones and tusks of winter kill. So supply increased as Elk, disrupted from migratory routes, starved because of poor winter range.

So outlaws appeared and began poaching Elk for their ivory only. Known as “tuskers” they built hideouts, a famous cabin was northwest of Jackson Lake. Because tuskers were such a problem in 1905 the Wyoming legislature set aside a portion of Jackson Hole as the Teton Game Preserve and banned hunting there, but Elk still ruthlessly died at the hands of poachers and tuskers.

Presidential influence

Because president Roosevelt put Elk ivory on prohibition in 1912 busting the ivory boom, killing Elk just for ivory became a felony. Jackson Hole was a last stronghold for tuskers. Congress eventually passed legislation creating the National Elk Refuge. The Jackson Hole herd is the largest in North America, Elk continue to roam ancestral territory. So thanks to strict regulations, licenses and citizens dedicated to wildlife and preservation, elk ivory are again so politically correct to wear.