Mary Lou Big Day - Indian Dolls

Crow Indian Dolls

The Indian Arts & Crafts Association
2008 Artist of the Year Award

Mary Lou Big Day (Crow Nation) Wins Top Honor

(Albuquerque NM) – On April 10th, the Indian Arts and Crafts Association announced the winners of its 2008 Artist of the Year Competition during its annual Spring Wholesale Market held in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This year’s top award, “Artist of the Year” went to Mary Lou Big Day, a beadworker and indian doll maker from the Crow Nation in Montana for her “Crow Traveling Medicine Beaded Indian Doll with Cradleboard.”

Mary Lou Big Day has been making Indian dolls since she was a little girl. This beautifully beaded Indian doll sits on a red birch pole which represents the teepee poles. This miniature scene depicts the moving of the family camp. The Indian dolls were used to teach young people about what needs to be done when moving, from picking and packing medicines to storing dry meat and berries in the saddlebags. These Indian dolls were considered “medicine” and would help when the camp was moved.

In addition to the cradleboard, the Indian doll carries her husband’s lance case made for a captured army sword, his warbonnet case and coup stick. The Indian doll’s face is painted with earth paints in the Big Day family design. “The colors and designs used for this Indian doll are all traditional Crow designs, very geometric with lots of sky blue beads and what are now called Cheyenne pink beads. Through my Indian dolls,” says Mary Lou, “I hope to preserve our past heritage for my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.”

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 Creation and History of Crow Indian Dolls 

When I was a little girl my Grandmother taught me how to make these Indian dolls.  Through my years of growing up, after I married, and now as a grandmother myself, I have made many.  Mostly I follow the pattern of tradition. 

In the old days, the Grandmother would go to the mountains and there they would receive visions.  The spirits would tell them what designs should be used on clothing and how to make Indian dolls.  The Indian dolls were made of leather and stuffed with buffalo hair; today I use fabric and stuff them with cotton. 

The dress was made out of buckskin from a male deer.  After fur traders came, wool and cotton trade cloth were used.  The only colors available were red, green and blue.  Glass beads are stitched to look like elk teeth on a traditional Crow dress.  Natural things such as bones, rocks, leaves, feathers, and horsehair were added.  When the soldiers began to fight the Indians, Crow women adapted a new addition to the dress.  They started placing a yellow yoke around the neck of the dress.  They took the pattern from army dress uniforms from men in high command.  Yellow represented the gold that was on their uniforms. 

From fur traders they acquired abalone for the earrings and for the belt the metal was made from an old frying pan.  The moccasins were made form buckskin.  They added the coup stick to signify the accomplishments that her husband achieved in battle. 

The making of the necklace came from an older woman who lost a loved one in battle or from illness.  She would go to the mountains or hills to pray and there she would receive a vision and the spirits would tell her what colors she would use to make this necklace.  The string was made of natural colors, using plant colors and the blue colors of the sky.  In the middle they would place two ivory elk teeth.  A woman wore the necklace for protection for herself and for her family.  Today these necklaces are still passed down through generations and are worn with the same belief of those long ago. 

The painting of the face is considered very sacred.  The design was obtained by a family member who had a vision.  Only earth paint is used to create the image.  After I married I used what my father-in-law had acquired trough a vision. 

With my husband, Heywood, I have done Indian doll-making presentations and workshops in England, Germany and Australia, as well as Montana and other places in the United States.  In September 2001, I was invited to the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. as a special Guest artist of the American Indian Doll Show.  (That was the time the World trade center and Pentagon were attacked.)  During the two days of presentation I showed them how I make the Indian dolls and told the story of how they originated. 

My Indian dolls have been sold at various arts and crafts shows, galleries and museums, including in New York City, Washington, D.C. Cody, Wyoming, and the American Indian arts and Crafts Show in Albuquerque, N.M. 

As a Grandmother, through these Indian dolls and the stories about them, I will always be able to preserve our past heritage.  I can teach non-Indians well as my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, giving them hope for the future.

1. Indian Arts & Crafts Association (May, 2008);
2. Mary Lou Big Day