I do not know if Kaya was solely a Mattel enterprise or if she was started before the buy out.
But, she is a well researched and beautiful doll. Her items are excellent quality and it seems that they are pretty accurate from a historical perspective (but I do not know much about Nez Pearce history).
The new face mold they developed for her was not cutting corners, either - and they did it for cultural reasons, i.e. showing teeth in Nez Pearce culture is aggressive.
Kaya is a beautiful and remarkable doll. The only thing I am not crazy about are her modern dance dresses, but at least they say they are modern.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Wow! That is so interseting! Thank you for this post! [img]wink.gif[/img]The new face mold they developed for her was not cutting corners, either - and they did it for cultural reasons, i.e. showing teeth in Nez Pearce culture is aggressive.
<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ September 03, 2005 01:21 PM: Message edited by: prasnlrd ]</font>
I didn't know that about teeth either, thanks.
I agree that Kaya has mostly well-made things and is one of the most beautiful of all the dolls. Her collection is wonderful.
Although I wish Kaya had a larger collection, I can certainly understand its size. I know the other dolls also have far greater amounts of clothing than they would have actually owned, but the materials in use during other dolls' time periods allows for that. There is not so much you can do with Kaya's historical clothing and still make it accurate.
I think it is absolutely phenomenal that AG worked with the Nez Perce. I grew up in an extremely traditional tribal community (one of the most traditional left in the country) and I only had one doll that was even remotely in the arena of accuracy that Kaya has. So many children think that American Indians all wear buckskin dresses, headbands, and feathers. You can even see this reflected in the homemade outfits for Kaya available on ebay.
I personally love the idea of modern outfits. Although I can sew and bead her much better ones, that is only because I already knew how. Many people think of American Indians as part of the past. They do not see us as a vibrant part of America today. That is why I think it is great that there is a small focus on Kaya's modern counterparts. It is my hope that Kaya will teach non-Indian children that we still exist- and reinforce how wonderful it is to be an American Indian girl today. I wish I had been able to own a doll like Kaya as a child. A huge number of Americans have indigenous ancestry, but very few know much about it. Kaya and her modern outfits are a great way for people to learn about the past and the present.
Even before Kaya appeared, my parents supported my love for AG because Pleasant Company did make it a point to respect indigenous Americans. I love how almost all the World books mention the struggles of Native peoples. However small, it does send a message to girls of today that we would not have this country today if it were not for the sacrifices of American Indian people. Even Kit's World book mentions that American Indian people faced a particularly difficult time during the Great Depression.
Wow. Long post, but I love to give props to Kaya. [img]smile.gif[/img]
<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ September 03, 2005 04:25 PM: Message edited by: colette denali ]</font>
You can smile without showing your teeth, as you can see Kaya does. Baring your teeth is a very rude gesture to the Nez Perce.
It's interesting how cultures have different ideas of what is polite, isn't it? I'm sure Kaya would be very appalled at some of the things we do today!
I think the teeth thing is very cool. And it makes sense: the Nez Perce seemed to be mirroring what they saw in the world around them. Animals consider the baring of teeth a sign of aggression, so it's really pretty odd that all humans didn't develop that way too. Probably because we don't have sharp pointy teeth to scare anyone with. [img]smile.gif[/img]
It's always been my understanding that the American Indian is MUCH more in tune with nature than we are. So it is a great observation, ksami, that you've come up with in comparing our toothy grins to the aggressive baring of teeth by frightened or angry animals. Great parallel.
I think the American Indian has consistently been done a great disservice by European Americans and they are owed one heck of an apology. I think Kaya is LOVELY (I've recently seen her in person and MY, is she pretty), but I confess I'm holding out until Madison for her because DH has said if they have her as the deal they did last year (teepee, horse, and doll for some crazy price - was it $85?) I'm more than welcome to bring her and her stuff home.
I think she's beautiful; she'd be like my Lissie - no clothes but the ones that are hers!
I think, though, that I would be in awe of her. She's so, well, REGAL, to me; I hope she'd fit in with my boisterous crowd here!
I have to say Kaya is one of my most favortie doll in the collection. I have always loved Native American dolls, even when I was little..er. One of the things I loved most about her was her face mold so different from other dolls. Although I am not so wild about her large plastic things such as her saddle I do enjoy the rest of it. The pow-wow otufits are a little bit much I think it was just to make Kaya's collection a little bigger. I do enjoy the Tradtional Dance outfit though since it is like an outfit Kaya might have worn hence "Tradtional." (I change the outfits on the dolls every month but I can bring myself to take Kaya out of hers it is too pretty.) I am gald they found a way to make the sholders drape since she looked like she had wings for the other outfit.
Nope, Kaya would not have worn the pow wow outfit of today.
The term "traditional," when it relates to that outfit, refers to the style of dancing- not to the dress. In traditional style pow wow dancing, buckskin clothes are common- however, neither the embellishments on that dress, nor the style of decoration, would have been available during Kaya's time.
Thanks for your interesting insight, Collette Denali.
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