For more than a millennium, the native peoples of Alaska have crafted human figures out of a range of organic and manufactured materials. They were often the playthings of children and were used to teach cultural and survival skills, such as skin preparation and sewing. As such, old and authentic examples provide excellent insight into the typical garb of indigenous Alaskan peoples. Yup’ik dolls were often distinguished anatomically, and the addition of ivory labrets for males and chin tattooing for females made them easily identifiable.They were often made in family sets of five – mother, father, daughter, son, and child.

Some human figures were historically used by shamans, though information about such practices is scant and these traditions are not well understood. AncientAlaskan figures, fashioned of ivory and bone, are schematic and effigy-like in construction, and it is unclear whether the articulated, dressed, and even coiffured dolls of more recent centuries represent an unbroken evolution from those earlier forms of image-making or rather an entirely different cultural expression.

This doll shows a doughty, vigorous posture and crescent-shaped eyes and mouth set in a bald head. Its complete clothing ensemble is of hand-sewn hide and fur, adorned with glass bead detailing around the chest and shoulders of the parka.

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