Saturday 19 December 2009

Kachina Dolls


I have been pouring over books on Native Americans for the past week and have found some really inspiring research. I particularly love the beading and fringing, and I could see this translating onto the knitting machine beautifully. In addition, at the LCF library I found an amazing book on Pueblo Indians costume, which then led me on further to researching around this particular area. I discovered wonderful imagery of masks and then stumbled across small dolls called Kachina Dolls. The dolls are supposed to be given to children, so they can learn about different spirits through them. Each doll in unique and has a purpose and story behind it. I found a particularly brilliant website displaying many of the dolls. Shown are some pictures I found on the site.
I am returned home to Oxford tomorrow, and plan to visit the Pitt Rivers Museum on Monday, where there is a selection of these dolls, as well as other items that would be particularly useful for my research.

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