One of the ways Garrett funds the Eco
Preservation Project is through the sale of
bone, bead and shell jewelry. He began
making his unique, First Nations-themed
necklaces and bracelets this year, after
COVID-19 shut down so much Florida
business.
“I didn’t
start making
jewelry until
the virus
hit,” he said.
“Nobody
wanted to
book ecotours,
and
nobody was
buying the
artifi cial mini
reefs we
install. That
was when
I invented
the ‘survival
necklace,’
where you
can make fi re
with the necklace as an ignition source. It was
a hot item and had a lot of sales, so I made
more. I did the only thing I knew how to do,
I was raised by a holy man and learned the
craft from him.”
His prices range from around $20 to more
than $250. They feature items such as buffalo
teeth, otter claws, pearls and other natural
items strung together on sturdy cord. They
are made to withstand the water and wear of
every day use. He can make custom jewelry
as well, with items you might already have on
hand.
There are many aspects of bone in each
piece Garrett makes. He gets the bones from
various sources, including some he trapped
when he was a biologist in Kansas, and some
from other sources.
“It was my job to trap male bobcats,” he
explained. “Many of the bones are from
when I was a very bad man. I was a trapper.
That’s how I paid my rent and paid for my
books in college, by trapping my homies and
trading their fur for money to trade for other
things.”
A GASPARILLA MAGAZINE • September/October • 2020
Garrett described the day he turned a
corner in his life.
“One day I was walking my trap line and
heard a whimper. I looked down at my leg
hold trap to fi nd a little coyote pup in the
trap. Puppies are very sacred to the Lakota.”
Garrett said he went home and melted his
traps down, and in the process he cut himself
on the trap that had killed the pup. His blood
mingled with its blood, and that was the day
that the old Garrett died and Captain Planet
was born.
“I have been trying to say ‘I am sorry’ ever
since that day … and that is why I do what I
do.”
Some of the buffalo horn and bone beads
come from his Lakota cousins.
“When we kill a buffalo we use everything,”
he said. “These animals were not killed in a
bad way. They are honored, and used well.”
As his jewelry work has progressed over
the last few months, his talents and creative
technique have, too. One piece Garrett
made included prehistoric whalebone, about
nine million years old. A museum donated
the piece to him to help the project. Some of
the beads are
made from
African sea
glass.
There is
a piece of
nature in
everything
he makes,
and a piece
of himself
in every
necklace
and bracelet
as well ...
and upon
meeting
him you will
understand
how fi ne a
thing that is.