First and only edition of this exceptionally scarce doll cut-out book featuring a fictional Standing Rock Sioux girl who attends the Santee Indian School, Winona Black Eagle, and seven different outfits, each with its own description and instructions for cutting out and application to the doll on the reverse of the cover. No date, likely 1932, matching a code on the rear cover. A single copy extant at the State Historical Society of North Dakota, with no records in commerce.
Published by the American Missionary Association, the cut-out doll book is an example of the changing character of missionary work as well as the perceptions of American Indians. The doll is depicted with bobbed hair, and the text, written from her character's perspective, is distinctively modern:
"I s'pose you think I don't look much like an Indian, but we all have bobbed hair nowadays. It's a lot more comfortable and easier to care of than long braids. My Grandma still wears hers braided though. I don't wear moccasins because most of us wear store shoes, but my Grandma did make me a pretty pair of moccasins just to keep."
Each of the seven outfits includes a similar paragraph, all written from the perspective of the character, of text describing the outfits; while most reflect contemporary Euro-American styles, also included is a traditional dress:
"This is a dance dress my Grandmother wore when she was a little girl. They used to have celebrations and ceremonial dances before the missionaries came. It is made of bright blue broadcloth, and has elk teeth sewed all around the top. There are two pretty bows of ribbon on the front, and round red pieces of silk on the sleeves and the skirt... Grandmother had some leggings to go with the dress but she took the beads all off to make trimmings on moccasins a long time ago."
An exceptionally rare and fascinating piece reflecting changing attitudes to the American Indian on the part of missionary organizations.
