There is a longstanding tradition on the Plains of grandparents and parents lovingly fashioning toys and clothing for their children. In the case of dolls, women carefully rendered miniatures of males and females dressed in the tribe’s finest attire, often using remnants from larger projects for accuracy.

Not only did these dolls convey the often robust gender roles that existed within many Plains tribes, but they also communicated the social standing of the respective family. Girls would play and interact with their dolls as they contemplated womanhood, and their future role within the tribe.

10” tall

Ex Dr. Robert Pamplin Jr., OR

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