Spider Woman and Navajo rag dolls in general

Tam is offering up two little dolls similar to what I've got today, so if you want 'em, go pay her a gander.  She's only charging shipping and handling, and her S+H charges are very reasonable...unlike some eBay sellers I've bought from.  I know now why they call it FEEbay!  Anyway, I've never shown these dolls that I can remember, so here's two of 'em.  They're Navajo rag dolls that can be found at tourist sites in the Four Corners area, or online.  Nothing's rare about them, but as usual they have stories behind them.  Their names are Falling Star (left) and Spotted Deer.

These two were gifts from Daddy.  He and a bunch of his black powder friends camped at Old Mines, which is probably the farthest he travelled to rendezvous.  Old Mines is in Washington County, while Grassy and Old Greenville are less than a hundred miles from Malden.  Anyway, the first time he went to Old Mines to camp there was just a teeny-weeny risk of severe weather, but I stayed up with Mama to catch the ten o'clock news anyway, just for the heckuvit.  Lo and behold, when the weather screen popped up the first thing the weatherman pointed out was a tornado-warned thunderstorm...in Washington County.  "Uh-oh, that's where Daddy's at!"  Mama grumbled.  Indeed, the storm hit Old Mines full-tilt, and Daddy said it was...interesting.  There WAS a tornado sighted, but it went away from the town and the campsite.  Interestingly, the weather had been very dry before the storm

Anyway, the dolls came from a seller at Old Mines.  Daddy had seen a little girl carrying one, and he enlisted all his friends (and he had quite a few) to find the person carrying them.  Eventually one of his friends did find the person, and they had TWO left!  Daddy got those two, our two...and then Spotted Deer got rained on, so her face got erased.  See how she looks a little different from Falling Star?

Daddy re-drew her face!  He did a good job, too.  Indeed, I like the face he drew better than the one Falling Star has!

This other doll is another gift, and she also has a story behind her.  She's sort of a combination between figurine and doll, and she's tricky to photograph.

There's a lot going on here, but in short, she's a weaver.  There are fibers of wool strewn around her, and her baby lies on a pallet beside her.  See?

I named her Spider Woman, after the Native American legend that Josefina Montoya heard in Josefina Learns a Lesson.  Spider Woman was the name of a being (deity?) that is important to both the Hopi and the Navajo people, and since she taught humanity to weave blankets and nets her name is fitting.  So I named my doll that.  Spider Woman came all the way from the Four Corners area.  My father's favorite sister (he had two) went there for a vacation once, and at one spot she bought Spider Woman from a group of "friendly, smiling Navajo ladies," as Auntie called them.  "That'll never survive the trip home," Auntie's friend said, but survive Spider Woman did and I was delighted.  I keep her in a safe place, far away from the ravages of dust and cats.  If I had one complaint about Spider Woman it would be that it's hard to see her face through the strings of her loom.  She has a rather fierce, determined expression. 

All three of these dolls are constructed more or less the same.  They wear long linen skirts with sashes, beaded jewelry, and velveteen blouses (all permanently attached).  Their hair is made of...I think it's black wool...

...and their tiny hands are leather.

Spider Woman's feet are not visible under her skirt, but Falling Star and Spotted Deer both wear red "moccasins."

And...that's all I have to say!  These dolls aren't terribly hard to find, nor are they very expensive or valuable, but to me my trio are worth their weight in gold with the stories they carry.

Much love,
RagingMoon1987