Frequently asked questions

Cuffs in stock ship in 1 business day, Monday through Friday. Standard shipping takes 3 to 5 days, depending on where you live. Priority shipping through UPS is available for a fee. Details are in our shipping policy.

Yes. If you are not completely satisfied, return your cuff within 15 days for a full refund, less shipping. Cuffs bought in a Sample Sale are final sale. Our full return policy is online.

Yes, by quote. Rates vary widely, so send us a message through the contact form and we will find you the best option.

Email subscribers receive 10% off a first order with the code ETKIEWELCOME. If the code does not apply, reply to your order email and we will fix it.

Beyond that, we rarely discount. The price is the cost of paying everyone in the chain. Occasionally we offer a small number of sample cuffs to email subscribers at a lower price, announced with dates. The cuff is the same. It ships in a brown gift bag with the card carrying the artist’s name, rather than the black Etkie box. Rewards points and the welcome discount do not apply, and we do not promise a sale each year.

Every available cuff is listed and searchable on the site. If you still cannot find it, send us the image through the contact form and we will look into it.

Each cuff is loomed by hand, bead by bead, by one of ten Diné artists in To'hajiilee, New Mexico. More than 1,200 beads go into a cuff. The beadwork sits on leather with a semi-flexible copper band inside.

Every cuff arrives with a card carrying the name of the artist who made it.

Every cuff is 6 inches long and fits most wrists. After the leather is applied, a Small is just under half an inch wide, a Medium is half an inch, and a Large is one inch. We made only a few Mediums, for patterns that would not fit on a Small.

The copper band inside the leather lets you adjust the fit. Place the cuff on your arm above the wrist bone and rotate it into position. Squeeze it gently around your wrist with your other hand, then turn your arm over and press the edges down. To remove it, lift the edges slightly, without overextending, which can damage the beads. Rotate it off with your thumb pointing up. A short video is on every product page.

Occasionally a bead will fall off. If it does, email kerry@etkie.com with a photo of your cuff. We handle each repair case by case.

We photograph every cuff as accurately as we can. If it is not what you expected, contact us and we will help with a return.

Not currently. Patterns are designed together with the artists.

Ten Diné artists, enrolled members of the Navajo Nation, loom at home in To'hajiilee, New Mexico. Patterns are designed together, and each artist’s name is on the card in every box.

Yes. Every cuff is made by an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. That is what “Native American made” means under the federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 and New Mexico’s Indian Arts and Crafts Sales Act, which make it unlawful to market goods that way otherwise. Imitation “Native-style” goods take income directly from Native artists.

Wages are set with the artists, who are their own bosses. Together we agree on what is fair based on how long a cuff takes to make, using joint time studies. More complex patterns earn a supplement. On top of that, each artist is paid 6% of the value of everything they create, every year. Etkie covers materials, equipment, marketing and logistics. The artists set their own hours and how much they take on each week.

Under New Mexico’s current legal and tax structure, employment does not fit how the artists work. As contractors they decide how much work to take on around their family and personal needs. We reviewed the cost-benefit analysis with them, and they want to stay contractors for the time being. The savings go to the artists through the 6%.

Yes. We ran two feasibility studies on a worker-owned cooperative. Most of the artists told us they would rather make their work than run a company. Etkie carries the business and operational load, and the artists share in what it earns through the 6%.

If you are interested in the business, we would like to hear from you. Write to sydney@etkie.com.

The question that matters is who holds authorship. Appropriation is taking Native designs, producing them without Native hands or consent, and keeping the profit. At Etkie, patterns are designed with the artists, loomed by them, priced from their own time studies, and named on the card in every box. We would rather you ask this question than wonder.

We have read widely on it, including the legal scholarship and the work of Native founders, and it shapes how we work. The test we hold ourselves to is whether Native people are the authors, decision-makers and beneficiaries of the work. Here they are.

Etkie is a creative studio based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It began thirteen years ago with Diné artists, enrolled members of the Navajo Nation, loom-beading cuffs at home in To’hajiilee, bead by bead. More than 1,200 beads go into every cuff, and every box carries a card with the name of the artist who made it.

The wool line begins with the land. Fleece from ranches in New Mexico is spun and woven by American Woolen in Connecticut, then sewn in New York. The leather is deerskin from wild axis deer in partnership with Maui Nui.

We believe in making things from the best materials we can find, making them in the United States, and finding it a home with someone who will wear it for years. We make the piece. Where it goes is up to you.

609 Broadway Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87102. Hours are Monday through Friday, 11am to 5pm Mountain Time.