About Towayalane Trading Co.

Towayalane Trading Company is a family-owned and operated business located in Tucson, Arizona. Joe and Jan Douthitt began buying Indian arts and crafts in 1969, while teaching school in Ft. Defiance, Arizona.

Since 1973, we have lived in Tucson, continuing to purchase top-quality hand-made jewelry, weavings, sandpaintings and more directly from artists and craftsmen. Towayalane is a Licensed Zuni Trader, and Joe travels to the Zuni Pueblo every two weeks to meet with artists, purchase their crafts, and place orders.

In addition to the Zuni arts that Towayalane offers, we deal with many well-known Navajo artists who provide us with hand-made silver and 14K gold jewelry and other fine native arts and crafts.

We have been members of the Indian Arts and Crafts Association for 32 years. Joe served on the Board of Directors for 12 years, and was president of the Association in 1992. He has also conducted seminars on "Fakes and Frauds", teaching retailers how to recognize synthetic turquoise and other common materials which are sometimes used in place of natural stones. Joe has also written the IACA consumer information pamphlet on fetishes. We have participated as exhibitors in every wholesale show that IACA has produced, beginning with the first show in Scottsdale in 1979.

All items Towayalane offers for sale are individually hand-made by Native American artists using only natural materials. We guarantee all items we sell are authentic.