Learning Native Culture, Lifestyle, and History With Kaya

Some of Beforever books about Kaya.

       "Kaya is a young girl from the Nimiipuu or Nez Perce tribe living in the pre-contact Northwest. Themes in her core series focus on leadership, compassion, courage, and attachment. Chronologically, Kaya's adventures are the earliest of the historical characters. Kaya is depicted as brave and outgoing, but careless and thoughtless, and wants to be a leader of her people. Her role model is a female warrior named Swan Circling. Created in collaboration with a consultation team that included representatives from the Nez Perce tribe, Kaya is the only Native American doll made by American Girl to date. Kaya is the only doll in the series not to show teeth, per tribal custom. Kaya is also the first doll in the series to not follow the book naming customs established by previously-released characters – the second book in the series is titled Kaya's Escape instead of Kaya Learns a Lesson." Wikipedia

• Meet Kay of the Nez Perce
• Books about Kaya and the author Janet Shaw
  
• My pinboard for Native American doll costumes
• Teacher's Guide to The Journey Begins (PDF)
• Look up the meaning of the name, Kaya

Online Research for Themes Found in Kaya's Books:

• Nez Perces Horses - Four Legged Brothers
• The People of the Horse by National Geographic
• Erika Larsen: People of the Horse
• American Wild Horse Campaign
• The Conservation of a Threatened Species
• Nez Perce Tribe 
• Nez Perce are the Niimíipuu – “The People.”
• Nez Perce Pow Wow from 2017, Grand Entry Song and Dance, authentic costume and music 
• Tending the Wild: Cultural Burning
• 2017 Prairie Wildfires in The American Mid-West
• The Elite Apache Hotshot Crew Fighting Wildfires
• Walking On Sacred Ground
• The Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail
• The Nez Perce - A People in Exile
• Native Americans: Nez Perce by Bow Tie Guy and Wife
• Nez Perce tribal member explains why we need to protect our wildlife
• The Story of Smallpox and other deadly Eurasian germs

Our Artifacts for Kaya's Stories and Native Culture, History, Arts:

• Who Was Chief Joseph? famous Nez Perce Chief
• Craft A Horno Oven for Josefina or Kaya 
• The Story of A Buffalo
• Sew a native ribbon skirt for your doll...
• The Powhatan Natives
• Native American Folk Doll Types
• North American Native Musical Instruments
• Native American paper dolls to color 
  
• The Weaving of Native Americans

More Links to Kaya Related Learning and Lapbooks:

• Curly's First Lapbook American Girl: Kaya
• 1764 - Kaya: An American Girl Lap Book
• American Girl class - Kaya - week 3 
• Kaya American Girl Lesson Plan: Book 1 Part B
• Early Native American History Unit with American Girl Kaya
• Kaya - The American Girl
• Photos of Native American Women and Children 

Poetry About Native Americans: Culture, Legends, Language and Folklore

• Mantenau - An Indian Legend.

Native American Girls Share Online:

• Inside an Apache Rite of Passage Into Womanhood
• Native Girls Talk About Being Native
• 6 Misconceptions About Native American People
• Real Life As A Young and Native American
• Lakota in America

National Parks, Libraries & Museums Lessons In Native Crafts:

• Craft It Yourself! Beads and Clothing
• Seasonal Round from Nez Perce Museum Collections
• Discussing American Girl Books - A Program Without Dolls

Video & Articles for Kaya Doll Related Fan Culture:

• Kaya and friends show crafts and trade supplies, Native American Girl Fun
• Meet Kaya of the Nez Perce: American Girl
• Reviewing Kaya by DarlingDollies
• Fixing American Girl Doll Kaya!
• How To Style Kaya's Wrapped Braids from American Girl
• American Girl Doll "Kaya" Captures Authentically Native Culture

Advanced Reading: Historical Fiction About The Indigenous People/Native American Women of North America:

• The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl, New Mexico, 1864 by Ann Turner 
• My Heart Is on the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl, Carlisle Indian School, Pennsylvania, 1880 by Ann Rinaldi
• The Birchbark House: by Louise Erdrich - "Omakayas, a seven-year-old Native American girl of the Ojibwa tribe, lives through the joys of summer and the perils of winter on an island in Lake Superior in 1847."

Kaya's facial details reflect Nez Perce Reviews.

More Native American Doll Characters with Books:

• The Adventures of Rose Hopkins