Do you want to know more about Indian baby dolls? Are you interested in getting more information on buying Indian baby dolls? Read on for facts & information…
Indian baby dolls were primarily used as playthings by the children of the tribe yet they were also used as a tool to teach the youngsters the customs, traditions and values of the society. They were also a wonderful way of teaching children the life skills that they would need to survive in their society after growing up. For instance, when children would observe their parents creating the dolls for them they would eventually learn the art themselves, which would aid them in later life when they would have to make dolls for their own offspring.
In some cultures this approach was taken a step ahead for girls where in the process of playing with the dolls the young girls of the tribe would learn to gather raw material and transform them into beautiful clothing for the dolls, a skill which would prove essential for their own families. This act also helped the girls of the tribe to develop an artistic sensibility. So essentially through their doll play the girls would learn the art of taking local raw material and transforming it into beautiful, functional clothing for their families and for sale, a skill which is highly prized among Indian cultures.
The Apache tribe, in particular, used dolls to teach the girls of the tribe the elaborate art of making and decorating clothes. This included the use of fringing, cloth appliqué and paint to replicate the traditional Apache Indian dress. While in some cultures the dolls were used as a subtle way of teaching children the life skills, in all cultures the socialization value of these dolls was used to the hilt and encompassed children of both genders. The Indian tribes of the Arctic region would create dolls that would have elaborate outfits with miniature implements that would be used by the children’s parents.
So these dolls were very useful in teaching the children about the various emblems of status that were used in the doll’s clothes and also there was a religious belief that one should never sleep with the doll because it would come to life unless it had been blessed by the shaman. Plains Indians normally had unisex dolls which were used to play camp. So, in the game the boys would use their dolls as little hunters and warriors and they would even create horses out of sticks to go out on buffalo hunts. There would also be conflict between the girl and the boy camps and they would act out a war with their dolls.
