

Offering high quality, handcrafted sterling silver and copper jewelry, arts & crafts by Indigenous jewelers & artisans from across the Americas.
About Turtle Island Trading
Building Economic Opportunity for Indigenous Peoples
We are an Indigenous-owned retail business nestled in the heart of Little Five Points. Founded in 1988 as Coyote Trading, we rebranded to Turtle Island Trading in 2021 to better reflect our mission and heritage. Our collection features handmade, carefully crafted goods from Indigenous artists across the Americas, each piece infused with positive energy and ancestral craftsmanship passed down through generations. At Turtle Island Trading, we provide a platform for Native jewelers and artisans to preserve and share their cultural traditions.
Story Behind Our Name
We chose this name to Honor the Land upon which we all reside. Many of the First Peoples around the Great Lakes Woodlands have an oral story of how the Land was created on the back of a Turtle.
The Story of Turtle Island:
Once upon a time, there was a great flood that wiped out most of the living beings. Only a few winged creatures and water creatures remained.
They were looking for a piece of land because it was very tiring to be on the move. They decided that one of them would dive to the bottom and bring some land back up.
They each tried, failing. Last, little Muskrat tried. He was gone a long time. Finally, he floated to the top, dead, but with a bit of mud in his paw. When the Turtle saw this, Turtle said “If the Muskrat can give his life, I can give my shell.” The Turtle placed the land on the back of his shell, and the land grew into what we now call Turtle Island.
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Adapted from: The-Creation-Story-Turtle-Island.pdf (ltbbodawa-nsn.gov)