How making faceless Indigenous dolls allows this Chippewas woman to teach stories of her culture Social Sharing
CBC News | March 16, 2022
Categories: news
The dolls have been used to teach children about the importance of humility for centuries
Isha Bhargava · CBC News · Posted: Mar 16, 2022 5:00 AM ET | Last Updated: March 16
What started out as a pandemic hobby for Audrey "Bill" Wilson of the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation quickly evolved into a way of educating others on the values of her ancestors.
Wilson has been making "no-face" Indigenous dolls, whose stories are used to teach children about the Seven Clans and the importance of humility and treating others as equals.
"It represents moving away from vanity and conceit," she said. "The seven grandfathers used these dolls to teach kids that 'you're no better than anyone else' and to have respect for one another."
According to the folktale, the doll created by the Great Spirits was very vain and thought she was better than everyone else because of her good looks. All she would do was look at her reflection in the water, and to teach her a lesson, the Spirit took her face away.
Each doll can take up to four days to make because of the details they require. Her top sellers have been the Every Child Matters, and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls dolls.
Wilson's dolls have also been a big hit on social media. She said she's been getting a lot of requests and inspirational compliments from strangers who are in awe of her work.
"These dolls make me so happy knowing that I can make other people happy," she said. "I never thought people would feel so close to them. I get requests for all kinds of dolls."
Wilson wanted to ensure that she was inclusive of her neighbouring reserves, such as the Oneida and Delaware Nations, who all have slightly different versions of the same story. She said she spoke with a variety of elders as part of her research.
Dolls symbolize learning from the past
According to Wilson, the Every Child Matters dolls hold a lot of significance to all Canadians, especially after the discovery of numerous gravesites at former residential schools.
She gets requests from parents and teachers who want to educate their kids on Canada's dark history and the trauma that many Indigenous children experienced.
For Wilson, whose grandmother is a survivor of a residential school in Sault Ste. Marie, these dolls represent a way to learn from history and put that toward healing and moving forward.
"The agony of what each reserve is going through with these children being gone, and coming back and making us look at life and showing us what we should be doing," she said. "It's really opening our eyes even though they're gone, so it has a very important meaning behind it and I'm proud to showcase that."
She hopes these dolls remind people to be better humans. In the meantime, she plans to make the dolls for as long as she can. Information on placing orders can be found on her page.
"No two dolls are alike and so it becomes sort of like a challenge, and I put a lot of work in them, but it's worth it to make people feel good, and it gives me great pleasure," she added.
