Doll-A-Day 2019 #183: Seminole Doll

   Not to keep harping on this point,but good grief,it's hot! It's too hot to breath, too hot to sleep. We were supposed to get some relief yesterday by going to the COSI Muppets exhibit and to see the movie "Yesterday",with Emma. Her meeting ran long though, so that's been delayed until tomorrow. I can hardly wait! I want to see both of those, but also: COOLNESS!!
  Today's doll is sort of a return to travel dolls. She a tiny lady.

She's a doll made by the women of the Seminole or Miccosukee tribes of Florida.

She's a simple doll. When I was photographing her I thought she looked like she was made of coconut fibers. As it turns out, these dolls are made of rolled palmetto fibers. The fibers are stripped from the outside of the palmetto plant.

The women of the two tribes began making the dolls for tourists in the early 20th century. Apparently this is a later doll,because it has rickrack trim.

She stands only about 4 inches tall. The face is typical of these dolls,with eyes made of a single white horizontal stitch and a single black vertical stitch. It looks like a hat, but that black fabric is apparently supposed to represent hair.

 
There's a nice article on these dolls HERE. The State Library and Archives of Florida has an album of pictures and information on the making of the traditional Seminole dolls on .Flickr. It covers the whole process,from the tools needed to strip the fibers, to the actual sewing of the dolls.
  That's the doll for today. See you tomorrow for another one.