Beautiful Earth Tones define this traditional "Turtle Island" pair of Genuine Aboriginal Hand Beaded Fringe Earrings. The Native American creation myth tells how the Sky Woman fell down to Earth. However, the Earth is covered in water. So, the animals who were living in the sea, tried to create some land for her. They swam to the bottom of the sea and brought up mud to create the land, but had nowhere to put it. So, the muskrat began to pile mud on top of the turtle. Soon, the other animals joined in to pile more mud on the turtle’s back. The turtle grew larger and soon an entire island formed on his back, and this is how the Earth was made. Also, the turtle symbolizes the Earth Mother itself. Most turtles have 13 scales, or scutes, on the back of their shell. To Native Americans, these scutes represent the 13 full moons that we have each year. In addition, on the very outer rim of most turtles’ shells, there are 28 smaller scutes. For the Native Americans, these 28 sections represented the 28 days in a lunar month.6 Thus, turtles were considered a celestial symbol of Mother Earth. I have used high quality glass seed beads in an earthy brown, cream, forest green, spring green and 24k gold accent beads. The fringes have been finished with genuine Tigers Eye gemstone chips. These earrings have taken me 8 hours of minute, painstaking work and have been done as a means of meditation using hundreds of tiny 11/0 glass seed beads. They are 5 inches long, 2 inches wide and have 10 fringes. They are available on gold plated stainless steel earwires, lever-backs, pieced-look clip ons, or studs - your preference. These are perfect statement earrings for us deadly Aunties for Pow Wow, summer festivals, Grad, weddings, or any other time you want to show your Native Pride!