Iroquois man doll: Traditional dress/gustoweh headdress c/1880 - PSt John-Mohawk

Description

This Iroquois man doll
is wearing a traditional Iroquois outfit featuring his traditional Gustoweh (kastoweh) headdress of feathers.
He wears a tunic shirt of vintage calico, with leggings and breechclout of vintage black wool.  The leggings and breechclout are beaded with opaque vintage seed beads and further decorated with narrow red silk ribbon trim.  There are "washer brooches" and a round incised pierced brooch on his breechclout (representing trade silver items commonly worn by Iroquois).  There are "tradesilver" arm bands on his upper arms. He also has a "trade silver" crescent gorget on a beaded neck chain. His earrings are silver hoops with a silver bead.  - A style made, traded in the fur trading era - c/1680-1830 - worn  for at least 50 after the fur trading era ended.
This impressive doll has been m
eticulously crafted
by
Paul St.
John,
Mohawk craftsman.   This doll is somewhat smaller than most of the dolls Paul makes.
This doll is 10.5" high, his outstretched arms are 7" across and
he is about 2" deep. He is of very soft very light color Native tanned deer hide. He also wears a necklace of mauve beads that has a tubular wampum bead at the center.  He has a bead strand in one hand of 4 tubular wampum beads.   He has a braided red silk ribbon belt, a fringed medicine bag of smoked deerhide with silver bead closure, and a hand carved bone quiver with 2 "arrows" feathered ends showing tucked under his belt. -----------------You will get the doll stand shown in some of the photos with the doll.
WAMPUM
-
"
beads of polished shells strung in strands, belts, or sashes and used by North American Indians as money, ceremonial pledges.
Shell beads hand fashioned from the North Atlantic channeled whelk shell and white and purple beads made from the quahog or Western North Atlantic hard-shelled clam.  These beads were/are valuable and beautiful."
Not only is this doll visually correct for the era, the very materials Paul uses are traditional and accurate.  The woolen material used in this doll's clothing is vintage - this wool was purchased by Paul when an old woolen mill in NY state went out of business and sold old woolen stocked fabric. The calico cotton shirt is of an old design.   The doll is made of soft tanned leather,
it is from the Pleasant Point Maine Passamaquoddy reservation.  (Sipayik).  Paul has made similar dolls for several museum exhibits and permanent displays including the Mohawk, the Passamaquoddy, the Maliseet, the MicMac, Mt Kearsarge Museum in NH ...  You would be accurate in describing this as a "museum quality" doll
Paul makes his vintage dolls dressed for different occasions from quite formal to everyday clothing.
This is a "no face" doll -
Several NE Native American tribes made "no face dolls" and there are stories and legends about why the dolls have no face.
One story is that the Creator and the child together should determine the “personality” of the doll. Another story is that if a face is painted on the doll, the child will begin to identify too closely with the doll’s personality and a pretty face may cause conceit or self-pride.  Yet another is that the dolls were so beautifully made, and given
beautiful clothing that when someone added a beautiful face, the doll it
self became vain.
Please view all the slideshow photos to see the detailed work on this doll.  Last photo is of Paul St John with examples of his other works.
Paul St. John lives in Maine, his mother is Passamaquoddy, Maliseet & MicMac.  He grew up on the Mohawk lands in New York, his father's homeland and is enrolled in the Mohawk tribe..  - When I saw his work I knew immediately I needed to offer his great baskets and many other crafts.  He makes quilled/beaded moccasins, barrettes, quill & sweetgrass baskets, birch bark boxes, rattles and many other items.
Watch this store for more of his pieces.  Can't wait to see what he is going to create next.