What Is Cherokee Copper? (And No, It's Not a Special Type of Metal)
Jump to:
- What Is Cherokee Copper?
- Why Is It Called Cherokee Copper?
- Who Is Cherokee Copper?
- Our Experience: "Wait — Are You Affiliated With Cherokee Copper?"
- How Copper Connects to Our Work
- What Should You Look for When You See "Cherokee Copper"?
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Why This Matters to Us
Cherokee Copper is a family-owned jewelry studio not a type of metal. The name pairs "Cherokee," our tribal identity, with "copper," the material we work in, which has real roots in Cherokee craftsmanship. Every piece is designed and made by our family in Oklahoma, which is what separates Cherokee Copper from generic copper jewelry.
We get asked this more than you'd think. Most recently, a customer at our Cherokee Holiday booth looked at our sign and asked, sincerely: is Cherokee Copper a special kind of copper? It's a fair question and it's one we're happy to answer directly, because the real answer says a lot more about who we are than any metal grade would.
What Is Cherokee Copper?
Cherokee Copper is a family-owned jewelry studio based in Oklahoma. We're not a copper alloy, a mining company, or a proprietary material. We're a family who designs and hand-makes copper jewelry rooted in Cherokee identity and Southeastern iconography.
Every piece that leaves our studio has gone through actual hands in an actual workshop: designed, engraved, hammered, and finished by our family before it ever reaches a customer.
Why Is It Called Cherokee Copper?
The name wasn't a branding exercise. it was just true before we ever wrote it down. Greg and his family are Cherokee, and copper was the metal he was already working in. When we sat with the name, the fact that copper had a real, traditional connection to Cherokee craftsmanship is what sealed it. The alliteration was a happy bonus, not the point.
Who Is Cherokee Copper?
Cherokee Copper is us, our whole family, not a hired team. Greg Stice leads design and does all of our engraving. Our son Joshua handles finishing and every piece of cold-hammer work you see in our collection. Oldest daughter Moriah, creates original artwork for engraving and our beadwork. Katie, helps out at in-person shows and events. Lisa runs the rest of the business.
Our designs draw from Cherokee tradition and the broader Southeastern Native iconography of this region. Where a traditional image doesn't already exist for a story we want to tell; like the Selu corn story: Moriah develops modern iconography that stays true to the story instead of borrowing something that isn't ours.
Our Experience: "Wait — Are You Affiliated With Cherokee Copper?"
During Cherokee Holiday, Greg and Lisa stopped by the Cherokee Nation gift shop in Tahlequah right after finishing up at our family booth, still wearing our "There's More to Native American Jewelry Than Turquoise and Silver" shirts. Someone there asked if they were affiliated with Cherokee Copper. Greg and Lisa looked at each other and said, in unison, with a smile: "We ARE Cherokee Copper." Meaning the name isn't a program or a partnership. It's just us: a Cherokee family who makes jewelry.
That mix-up happens more than once, and it makes sense. When your name sounds official, people assume it belongs to an institution instead of a workbench in a family studio.
How Copper Connects to Our Work
Copper isn't just what we happened to have on hand: it's a material with a real place in Cherokee and Southeastern Native metalworking. We won't try to tell that whole story here, because it deserves its own space. If you want the full answer to "why copper instead of silver," that's coming as its own article, and we'll link it here the moment it's live.
What we can show you here is what copper looks like when it carries a specific story. Our Selu corn earrings reference the corn mother story important to Cherokee tradition — copper worked into a design meant to hold that meaning, not just decorate an ear.
Our Four Directions set is another example — Southeastern spiral iconography carried through a matching necklace and earring set, all copper, all hand-finished in our studio.
Shop the Four Directions Collection
What Will You Find When You See "Cherokee Copper"?
If you come across the name Cherokee Copper, here's what it actually tells you:
- The jewelry is designed and made by a Cherokee family, not sourced from a wholesaler and relabeled.
- The name refers to who makes it, not a material grade. There's no such thing as "Cherokee Copper" as a type of metal.
- We're an independent studio, not a Cherokee Nation program, even though you'll find us stocked in tribal gift shops as a wholesale partner.
- Every piece has a person behind it you can actually name. That's not true of most jewelry on the market.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cherokee Copper a special type of copper metal?
No. Cherokee Copper is the name of our family jewelry studio, not a grade or type of copper. We work in standard copper. The name pairs "Cherokee," our tribal identity, with "copper," the metal we chose to work in.
Is Cherokee Copper affiliated with the Cherokee Nation?
Cherokee Copper is an independently owned family business. We are a Cherokee family, and we sell through the Cherokee Nation Business gift shop as one of our wholesale partners, but we are not a Cherokee Nation program or department.
Who makes Cherokee Copper jewelry?
Cherokee Copper is entirely family-made. Greg designs and engraves, Joshua handles finishing and cold-hammer work, Moriah creates artwork for engraving and beadwork, Katie helps at in-person events, and Lisa runs everything else.
Where is Cherokee Copper jewelry made?
Every piece is designed and handmade in our family studio in Oklahoma.
Why is it called Cherokee Copper instead of something else?
The name came from what was already true: Greg is Cherokee, and copper is the metal he chose to work in, a metal with real roots in Cherokee craftsmanship. The alliteration was a nice bonus, not the reason.
Does the name Cherokee Copper mean the jewelry has to be made of copper?
Copper is our primary material and where the name comes from, but the name describes who we are as much as what we work in. Copper's connection to Cherokee tradition is a separate story and one we go into in "Why We Make Our Jewelry With Copper Instead of Silver."
Why This Matters to Us
For our family, "Cherokee Copper" isn't a name we picked off a list of options. It's a plain description of who's in the workshop. When you buy something from us, you're not buying from a brand that registered a Native-sounding name you're buying from the people whose hands actually shaped it, and whose family it's named after.