#American girl kaya

[thestuffinginside]

Customized a Speaking Rain doll this week ♡ she is Kaya's adopted sister (cousin) from the books, and she is visually impaired

I re-beaded one of Kaya's meet dresses to better match Speaking Rain's (few) illustrations and overall personality, and I gave her Séliš-style braided loops since she splits her time between the two tribes. I've ordered her a new wig so that she looks a bit more different from Kaya, and I'll post her again after the swap!

[wherethegravelsthin]

EDIT : THIS POST IS NOT A SAFE SPACE FOR TERFS. GO FUCK YOURSELVES.

It’s summer for Kaya, and for her that means time spent at the Celilo Falls, gathering salmon that have made the long journey upstream to lay their eggs. In our modern day, the Nez Perce, or Nimíipuu, tribe has been fighting to regain control of the Snake River, which has had many dams built upon it which greatly inhibit the ability of salmon to travel up the river to lay their eggs. To preserve their cultural traditions, the Nimíipuu people have started the Salmon Orca Project, and by going to https://www.salmonorcaproject.com you can fill out a short letter to your state senators and representatives to let them know you stand with the Nimíipuu tribe in their fight to maintain their strong cultural traditions.

[sailor-rose-princess]

Doll and Teddy Show Bonus

So I wasn't the only one who brought her doll along with me to the doll and teddy show. This girl brought her Kaya with her, and she was really beautiful! I never got to see a Kaya in person, the pictures don't do her justice. This girl was really sweet, letting me get a pic with our dolls together.

I also met a group of people my age who brought their BJD's with them, and they were all very pretty and unique. I didn't get a chance to get pictures with them though. Anyways, I did end up bringing home a new doll, one I wasn't expecting to get. The first GOTY Lindsey Bergman herself!

So I ended up getting her, and a mini Samantha, for 83 dollars altogether, and I think that was an amazing deal and was so glad to get her. Her face and hair were in good condition (her hair was messy at first, but became good once I brushed with a little braid spray, looks prettier and healthier every day), no silver eye, and very little marks on her body. She is however missing her green shirt (as why her jacket is zipped up), and her red shoes are rubbing quite a bit. As for her bag, she doesn't have her computer, but funny enough, she had her little CD ROM that said "history" (Mom got a kick out of how cute it was). I know I have a My Life As computer or two lying around, so I'll lend it to her, maybe making some cute accessories for her (maybe a 2000's style flip phone? Lol). For what I paid for her (and tiny Sam), I'm happy, and she's just so unexpectedly pretty.

Also I found out there's another doll show same location in August (seems like a semi-annual thing), so I'm gonna sew some doll dresses and set up my own booth. I got forms, and my Mom is gonna help me sell. I'm excited, and you can bet I'll be posting outfits I make.

[shadysadie]

Okay, so, I’m a little pissed at American Girl for their rebrand of Kaya. When Kaya was originally created, American Girl specifically met with a council of Nez Perce advisors so that they could represent her and her culture to the best of their ability, this included making sure she was not smiling with her teeth in any of her picture (the first three pictures in the photo set) because baring teeth is considered rude in Nez Perce culture. They also made a specific face mold that had a closed mouth smile, and to date Kaya is the only doll that doesn’t show her teeth.

However, I recently found out that in both of the rebrands, they do not keep this in mind, in both the 2004 editions and the BeForever editions the illustrators do not keep this in mind and they have her smiling with her teeth in both the cover and portrait.

I’m really disappointed that after all the thought and care put into Kaya’s original series, no one spoke up about this during the rebrands.

[doll-collecting-aerialist]

This week’s school spirit prompt is cultural traditions!! Look at how beautiful these girls are!!

[lovedrac]

🦢 Restoring Kaya, Pt. 2 🦢

Here she is, all cleaned up and (mostly, kinda) repaired! ☺️

I used a Magic Eraser to clean off all the dust on her body. I also used shampoo/conditioner in her hair to clean it out- and BOY, did it need it, it had plumes of dust literally coming out when I was tying it back 🥲 I also used some buffer sheets I had bought on Amazon to repair her scratches and scuffs, it was about $6 before shipping.

Repair notes under the cut!

First of all, unless you’ve got some time, I HIGHLY recommend NOT taking Kaya’s braids out unless you have a situation like mine. Kaya had been sitting in storage for about 10 years; I knew she was very dirty and needed the clean. But BOY was her hair hard to wrestle with! It looks good in the photos, but that was after about an hour of brushing and washing. Be very careful and make sure to brush bottom to top.

(She looks so cute in this photo though!!)

First time without braids ever!!! It looked pretty but it was a mess waiting to happen 🥲 The moment I started combing it became a frizzy, knotted mess.

Second, unfortunately I’ll need to still work on her because I buffed a bit too hard on her cheek and now she’s missing her face paint (seen above). Something I was worried about and unfortunately it came true 😭 I’ll have to repaint her cheek carefully. If you use buffer sheets, use them as gentle as possible. I used multiple different grains of buffer sheets and didn’t press hard but still ended up making her slightly shiny and rubbing paint off. I’ll come back to this.

But otherwise, I am glad she’s clean and her hair came out pretty good too! This took about 2 1/2 hours to do. I also am relieved those large scuffs on her calf and arm came out easily with the Magic Eraser. I’m going to take her braids out so her hair can relax; it’s obvious it needs it.

[doll-collector-by-day]

March is Women's History Month, and since the Historical line is my favorite part of American girl, I thought I'd like to spend this month trying to find an American woman to relate to each of the historicals. I generally want to find someone in that same time period, but I may find contemporary women as well if they fit better. [I may do the same for the GOTY, we'll see].

First up is Kaya'aton'my! (Kaya)

Everyone in my house is dressed in red, pink, or purple right now for an event Claudie is holding at Angelo's later this week.

Finding a historical woman for 1764 has been.... somewhat difficult. We don't have records for a lot of Native American women during this time period (or Native Americans on the west side of the continent in general) , and generally I found lots of info about Mary Campbell, who was returned from the Lenape in 1764. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Campbell_(colonial_settler) But I really wanted to focus on someone who was Native American. So I turned to modern women.

And, coincidentally, I found one of the actors in The Last of Us is a Niimiipuu/Nez Perce woman. [Note that I do not watch this show, but I have seen that the last episode is making rounds for the AG crossover :) ].

Elaine Miles is Cayuse and Nez Perce, (her mother is Cayuse and her father is Nez Perce) and she's most famously known for playing Marilyn Whirlwind in Northern Exposure. Marilyn may be the first Native American series regular [as quoted in this The Nerds of Color article https://thenerdsofcolor.org/2020/07/10/elaine-miles-reflects-back-on-auditioning-filming-and-native-representation-for-northern-exposure/amp/] Elaine has also worked with local Native American communities in various outreach events. There's not a ton on her Wikipedia page, but there's numerous interviews with her scattered on the internet.

Elaine's birthday is April 7th, and Kaya's set sometime in the spring. I think April 7th will now be my Kaya's birthday, since there's no justification for any other dates.

[wormtimebaby]

Kaya would be a MLP fan

[5hensandacockatiel]

I feel like we all can agree that Kaya is one of the most underrated American Girls.

[shakespearefreak]

Over the weekend, I went to my family’s Cottage in the Northwoods for the first time since I was a kid! 🌲 I had a fantastic time, and also brought Kaya, Samantha, and Nellie (my mother and stepfather were very patient with me packing three dolls, two doll horses, a teepee, and a bunch of photography equipment 📷 into their van along with my suitcase 😂). I’m going to post the pictures of Sam and Nellie separately later on, but I wanted to share my Kaya photos now.

I’m pretty proud of the teepee: I made it myself!... or, sort of. I bought the first version of Kaya’s Teepee NIB recently on FB Marketplace. When it arrived, it was very clearly unopened… but the faux animal-hide fabric was cracking horribly from sheer age, and I didn’t feel right returning it because of something the seller clearly didn’t know about after opening it when it was NIB; besides which, shipping cost a lot, and it would barely have been worth it to return after shipping it back, even if the seller did accept a return. So I bought some microsuede and faux leather cord and, using the original fabric as a stencil, I made my own. I did everything myself, from sealing the edges so they don’t fray, to dying the flaps at the top with some Rit fabric dye left over from a different project; then I attached it to the original plastic tent sticks. I also changed a few things while I was at it to make the doorway larger so you can actually see inside. It’s not perfect (I messed up and cut both pieces the same, rather than as mirror images, so part of it is actually wrong-side-out; and I burned one side in the dying process, as well as splashing some dye on it) and I plan to re-do it later, but honestly I’m a bit amazed it came out as well as it did!

Note: I am White. If you are indigenous and find anything in this post offensive, please let me know and I’ll edit it or take it down!

[haveamagicalday]

Duel of the American Girl Dolls: Winners!

Elizabeth Cole's best outfit is : Riding Outfit

Cecile Ray's best outfit is: Meeting Outfit

Marie-Grace Gardner's best outfit is: Summer Dress

Caroline Abbott's best outfit is: Winter Coat

Nicki Hoffman's best outfit is: Red Vinyl Jumper

Isabel Hoffman's best outfit is: Year 2000 Outfit

Ruthie Smithens best outfit is: Play Outfit

Nellie O'Malley's best outfit is: Spring Party Dress

Claudie Wells best outfit is: Meeting Outfit

Courtney Moore’s best outfit is: Meeting Outfit

Emily Bennet's best outfit is: Meeting Outfit

Felicity Merriman's best outfit is: Riding Hat and Habit

Kaya's best outfit is: Pow Wow Dress

Josefina Montoya's best outfit is: Weaving Outfit

Kirsten Larson's best outfit is: Checked Dress and Shawl

Nanea Mitchell's best outfit is: Holoku Outfit

Maryellen Larkin's best outfit is: Poodle Skirt

Melody Ellison's best outfit is: Birthday Outfit

Rebecca Rubin's best outfit is: Meeting Outfit

Samantha Parkington's best oufit is: Plaid Cape and Gaiters

Molly McIntire's best outfit is: After School Party

[thestuffinginside]

Speaking Rain got a new wig! (and went on a trip!!)

[figures4fun]

Created with a good friend!

[paperstarzz]

🦅 American Girl 🦅

My favorites were always Kirsten and Rebecca, although the only doll I have is Caroline (third favorite)

Linktree

[omgthatdress]

According to the American Girl wiki, wearing a dress adorned with elk’s teeth was basically pre-colonial Native Gucci. It was a sign that your dad was a good hunter, so a display of wealth in a culture that had a different concept of wealth.

[lovedrac]

🦢 Restoring Kaya: Pt. 1 🦢

Kaya was my first American Girl doll at 10 years old; I loved her story because she was unique and also headstrong just like me, and also because she grew up in the same general area as I did.

When I grew up, I stored her away in a big box… for like 15+ years, and improperly too 😬 She has a lot of dust and scratches from storage. Today I’m finally going to be cleaning her up, head to toe, and working on the scratches as well. ❤️

She has some face scratches- one of them a very obvious dent in her cheek- as well as some pretty bad scratches to her calves & arms where items were stored on top of her.

Stay tuned while I’m working on getting her cleaned up like she deserves!