This item is made-to-order, lovingly hand-crafted on Sinixt Territory, in the beautiful mountains of British Columbia. To receive it by December 25, 2024, please place your order by December 6, 2024.

If you need a rushed order after December 6, holiday delivery may still be possible. Please contact me before placing your order to confirm availability. Unless previously arranged, orders placed after December 6, 2024, will be fulfilled in February 2025.

ANITO SKULL RING, WEARABLE AMULET | 2019
Oxidized sterling silver; cast, hand-finished.

This heavy duty sterling silver ring was hand-carved into the shape of a stylized human skull in wax, then cast in metal using the ancient technique of lost wax casting.

INDIGENOUS MEANINGS

This ring is meant to be an amulet, helping the wearer remember & channel the wisdom & strength of their ancestors.

While I was doing research for a long-term art project exploring the history of colonization in the Philippines, I came across the story of an indigenous Filipino from the Ifugao tribe, who kept the skull & bones of his ancestors, including his father, wrapped neatly in blankets under the floor of his hut. This might sound creepy to some, but I feel curious about how this practice could have prevented the disconnect & fear people sometimes feel around death. The blunt & inescapable realness of this approach feels almost preferable to the distancing practice of embalming & burying-people-in-boxes-tradition, that I’ve been raised with.

Anito, also spelled anitu, refers to ancestor spirits, nature spirits, and deities (diwata) present in many the indigenous animistic religions of precolonial Philippines. Anito can also represent carved humanoid figures that represent these spirits.