How to Make a Navajo Girl Doll from Clay

Native Americans worked diligently with their hands to create clay objects.

The Navajo tribe used natural materials, such as clay and leather, to make household objects. Modern day Navajo descendants or Native American enthusiasts can replicate the techniques of Navajo craftsmen to make Navajo clay dolls. While the original Navajo process of making clay requires soil native to the Navajo homeland and hours of work just to mix the clay, you can create a Navajo clay doll replica with just a few minutes of work.

Things You'll Need

• Baking clay and kiln- or air-dry clay
• Fine-grade clay sculpting tools

Instructions

1. Prepare the clay according to the manufacturer's directions.

2. Shape the clay into a doll shape with your hands. Native American dolls were typically shaped in a long column without protruding arms and feet, and then swaddled in cloth like an infant. Add flourishes to the doll. For example, you could use your pottery sculpting tools to cut the features of a face into the doll's head.

3. Dry the doll in whatever fashion the clay manufacturer recommends.

4. Decorate the doll. You could prime and paint the doll. The Navajo were famous for their silver and turquoise jewelry, so this color combination would be fitting. You could also dress the doll in doll-size clothing that shared the Native American clothing style.

References

• Native American Pottery; Frederick Rathjen; 1992
• Making Native American Pottery; Michael Simpson; 1991
• Native American Art and Culture; Brendan January; 2005
• The Craft and Art of Clay; Susan Peterson; 1992

Resources

• Google Products: Clay Sculpting Tools