RAPID CITY, S.D. — In 1971, Annie Tice-Poseley’s grandmother Ginny opened Ginny’s House of Turquoise in Rapid City after falling in love with the artistry of turquoise jewelry. Over 50 years and three generations later, the family is still mining, creating, designing and selling authentic and ethically sourced jewelry. 

“We’ve created a design house in Wall where we work with all of our mines. So we bring in all of our turquoise, we do all the design layout. So all the pieces that you see, we lay out all the stones and then send them to our artists. We work with about 280 different artists throughout the southwest: Navajo, Hopi and Zuni,” Tice-Poseley said.

Working with tribal artists is an important component of the business, as the federal

Indian Arts and Crafts Act

prohibits art and craft products from being fraudulently displayed, offered for sale or sold as American Indian, Indian, Alaska Native, Native American, or the product of a particular Indian tribe.

According to the Department of the Interior,

fraudulent Indian arts and crafts compete with pieces, harming the “economic and cultural livelihood of Indian artists, craftspeople, and tribes.”

Tice-Poseley is the third generation to take over the business, now known as Dakota Sky Stone. They have shops in Wall and Deadwood, South Dakota, and also sell online. The business recently displayed its goods at the Black Hills Stock Show in Rapid City. Tice-Poseley works closely with her brother, Clinton Tice, who has found his passion in helping create the jewelry they sell. 

“I have a big passion for stone, so I do a lot of the lapidary cabochoning, which is when you shape the actual stone,” he said. “So we’ll get turquoise and just in its raw form, and cut it, shape it … work a lot with it. And my dad’s a really good silversmith too. He’s done a lot of silversmithing, and I’m kind of more of an apprentice to it.”

Turquoise jewelry rose to popularity in the 1970s, but tapered off over the following decades. However, Dakota Sky Stone is seeing another wave of popularity hit.

“Now, especially in the last handful of years, the western style has really caught on. I keep seeing the growth …and it’s exciting, because people are wanting quality. Before they would pick a little piece here and there, the costume jewelry really came out, like 10 years ago, and I thought that was going to maybe kill the market,” Tice-Poseley said.

Dakota Sky Stone also had their turquoise displayed for millions of people to see when country music star Lainey Wilson wore some of their pieces during her Country Music Association Awards performance. Wilson also wore Dakota Sky Stone’s turquoise during the Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Halftime show and while she attended the

Grammy awards.

Emily grew up on a corn, soybean and wheat farm in southern Ohio where her family also raises goats. After graduating from The Ohio State University, she moved to Fargo, North Dakota to pursue a career in ag journalism with Agweek. She enjoys reporting on livestock and local agricultural businesses.