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:

• Craft a Pow-wow drum and mallet
• 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

20 Famous American Rag Dolls From Hallmark

       More than forty years ago, in 1979, Hallmark marketed a line of seven inch fabric rag dolls based upon both fictional and real American people. These were all sold in boxes depicting homes for the dolls to live in.

Nine historic American figures by Hallmark Card Inc.
See George Washington Carver's box home and description.
Read more about Hallmark Famous American Dolls at
collector's weekly.

The Women:

1. Martha Washington - wife of former President Washington.
2. Betsy Ross - creator of the first American flag
3. Molly Pitcher - Mary Ludwig Hays fought at the Battle of Monmouth for independence from the British.
4. Annie Oakley - Phoebe Ann Mosey was an expert sharpshooter in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.
5. Juliette Gorden Low - "Daisy" founded the Girl Scouts in USA.
6. Amelia Earhart - First female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic.
7. Clara Barton - American nurse, founded the American Red Cross
8. Susan B. Anthony - championed temperance, abolition of slaves and rights of labor for women in USA
9. A Halloween Witch - caricature seen at Halloween from fairy tales 
10. A Native American Woman - indigenous figure representing the first Americans

The Men:

1. George Washington - former first President of the United States and famous general who led the American Revolution against the British
2. Mark Twain - Samuel Langhorne Clemens, a humorist and writer
3. Babe Ruth - famous baseball player
4. Benjamin Franklin - a founding father, publisher and diplomat of USA
5. A Colonial Drummer Boy - representing the unsung heroes of the American Revolutionary War
6. Davy Crockett - an American fronteirsman
7. Chief Joseph - became legend in his own time for leading an epic flight across the Rocky Mountains, Nez Perce political leader
8. PT Barnum - American showman
9. George Washington Carver - inventor, scientist and former slave
10. Santa Claus - a legendary giver of gifts to children 

 Return to the Doll Guide Index Page

Thanksgiving Doll Crafts

Far left, a mixed media pumpkin pie. Left center, Ma Ingall's warm new shawl, Center Right,
 a cornucopia full of a bountiful harvest. Far right, scrap fabric slices of pie.

         The first Thanksgiving in the North American colonies was instituted by William Bradford, the Governor of Plymouth, and first observed by the Puritans, who suffering from hunger and privation and who were truly thankful when the first harvest brought them the means of support for the approaching winter. 

       This holiday has come to us as "the religious and social festival that converts every family mansion into a family meeting-house." From far and near our family members come, filling the cars, planes and trains with merry chatter and anticipated pleasures of this popular holiday. How near and dear all the bright faces are as they gather around large tables for Thanksgiving feasts!

       Below are some amusements and crafts, as well as history surrounding this popular holiday that will add to the merriment of this holiday as you spend time relaxing in your home with your dolls.

• Visit our Thanksgiving Index at Thrifty Scissors
• Visit our Thanksgiving Coloring Pages at Crayon Palace
• Plan a Thanksgiving Day Party for Your Dolls and Friends - party invitations printable and many games

I'm happy on Thanksgiving.
I've eaten till I'm sore. But
I wish I was an elephant, then
I could hold lots more!

Make Simple Thanksgiving Crafts for Your Dolls: You can help grow our listing by making requests for particular Thanksgiving crafts in the comment box below:

1. Craft a Foam Pumpkin Pie - You can make a pumpkin pie out of any materials...even foam sheets!
2. Sculpt Paper Mache Pumpkins - These adorable faux pumpkins are handcrafted for our 18" dollhouse decor for Fall.
3. Papier-mâché Two Delicious Pretend Pies! - make pretend pies for any occasion for your child sized kitchen using paper pulp, newsprint, and paint.
4. Craft a Cornucopia for A Doll's Harvest - an old-fashioned way to display harvest bounty at your doll's kitchen table.
5. Scrap Fabric Pumpkin Pie - these pretend pies are made from silk and lace fabric scraps...
6. Craft a Pistachio Nut Wreath - simple and elegant, this nut shell wreath is the perfect size for an American Girl Doll room display.
7. Craft A Horno Oven for Josefina or Kaya - any historical doll will appreciate this outdoor oven made to look like real clay.
8. Oven Bake Clay Pumpkin Pie - make pumpkin pies the easy way with oven-bake clay this year; even the whipped cream topping is shaped by hand!
9. DIY a Gas Stove Top and Oven for Barbie's Family - Every little doll needs her own oven to bake for her friends and family; this one is simple to make using a recycled box and tin foil.
10. Ma Ingall's New Shawl - use a wooly scarf or woven wool scraps to cut and shape a shawl for your pioneer dolls.
11. Sew Four Reversible Pumpkin Placemats - placemats come in handy whenever you need to decorate a doll dinner display!
12. DIY Doll Sized Clay Crescent Rolls... - warm, comforting clay crescents for your doll's Thanksgiving meal.
13. Cut and Assemble The Puritan (Pilgrim) Twins Paper Dolls - paper dolls for a fun Thanksgiving craft!
14. Sculpt a Holiday Turkey Using Paper Pulp  - This version of our doll's main course, the turkey, is challenging to craft.
15. Autumn Printable Paintings for Your Dollhouse - change over the dollhouse decor for the cool weather this year... Lovely fall foliage to dress up the dollhouse walls.
16. Mail Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving Cards to Your Dolls - help your dolls keep in touch with their friends and family through the mail with these charming old greetings.
17. 6 Old-Fashioned Side Dishes for Dolly's Thanksgiving Feast! - Is your doll in need of a feast? We have plenty of ideas for the doll's festive buffet here.
18. 3 Comforting Casseroles for A Doll's Thanksgiving Dinner - DIY comfort food your any doll Thanksgiving meal...
19. Native American paper dolls to color - two paper dolls, one mother, one son, two changes of clothing, there is a small baby included in the mother's second outfit
20. Color Thanksgiving Favor Boxes for A Doll's Party - Make these for a special tea party during the fall and invite all of your doll friends.
    
21. Decorate the Dollhouse With Pumpkins, Mums and Toadstools - Hot glue easy Autumn displays to decorate the dollhouse...
22. Make a pumpkin with a web shaped vine 
23. Craft a Pow-wow drum and mallet - Your Native American Dolls can celebrate their own way for a feast of their making using Pow-wow drums...

The Pilgrims Searching for A New Land: History, Legend and Poems. Be Thankful for Pilgrims Searching and God's Protection . . .

• The Mayflower - Methinks, I see it now, that one solitary, adventurous vessel, the "Mayflower" of a forlorn hope, freighted with the prospects of a future state, and bound across the unknown sea...
• Song of The Pilgrims - a poem "THE breeze has swelled the whitening sail..."
• Historic Plymouth Monuments and Locations - photos of old and new, records from the past...
• Song of The Pilgrims - a hymn by T C. Upham "The breeze has swelled the whitening sail..."
  
• Ode by Rufus Dawes - "Sons of New England sires!"
  
• Forefather's Day - a hymn by M. W. Chapman "The memory of the faithful dead..." 
• The Child's Thanksgiving Song - by Gieselman and Tooke "For everything that's great and good..." and Widdy-Widdy-Wurky here.
• Thanksgiving Prayer by Mary Caroline Merrick - "Dear God, I thank you for each lovely tree..."
  

Be Thankful for Gifts From Native People:

1. Gifts From The Native Americans  - Plants that were cultivated by the Indians for thousands of years before the Europeans discovered the New World...
2. Cultivated Plants  - The indigenous people of the Chicago region and of the eastern woodlands were farmers, or at least they were during the summer months.
3. Wild Plants - The natives used a great many wild plants, of which wild rice was the most important.
4. Nuts and Berries - Nuts and berries were found in large quantities in the northern and eastern woodlands of the United States.
5. Beverages - Water was, of course, the most common Native American drink.
6. Maple Sugar - The eastern woodland natives used maple sugar in almost all of their foods.
7. Seasoning - One important plant used as a flavoring was a kind of wild onion that grew in great numbers many years ago in the rich moist soil of the areas around Chicago.
8. Bark and Bast - To make their houses as well as their canoes and a great many of their household articles these indigenous peoples who lived in the north, used the bark of the paper birch that grew along rivers and the shores of lakes.
9. Medicine - Many different plants and plant parts were used to make medicines.
10. Gourds and Pumpkins and Their Uses - Children of our country often become acquainted with pumpkins and their relatives in the fall of the year‚ particularly during October and November.
11. Nuts - How native Americans used nuts and preserved them.
12. The Weaving of Native Americans

Remember The Indigenous People:

• The Navajo Tribe - Like other Apacheans, the Navajos were semi-nomadic from the 16th through the 20th centuries. Their extended kinship groups had seasonal dwelling areas to accommodate livestock, agriculture, and gathering practices. As part of their traditional economy, Navajo groups may have formed trading or raiding parties, traveling relatively long distances.
• The Powhatan Tribe - The Powhatans have also been known as Virginia Algonquians, as the Powhatan language is an eastern-Algonquian language, also known as Virginia Algonquian. It is estimated that there were about 14,000–21,000 Powhatan people in eastern Virginia, when the English colonized Jamestown in 1607.
• The Blackfoot Tribe - Today, three Blackfoot First Nation band governments (the Siksika, Kainai, and Piikani Nations) reside in the Canadian province of Alberta, while the Blackfeet Nation is a federally recognized Native American tribe of Southern Piikani in Montana, United States. Additionally, the Gros Ventre are members of the federally recognized Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana in the United States and the Tsuutʼina Nation is a First Nation band government in Alberta, Canada.
• The Nez Perce Tribe -  Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest a region for at least 11,500 years.
• The Indigenous People of Peru - Native Peruvians, comprise a large number of ethnic groups who inhabit territory in present-day Peru. Indigenous cultures developed here for thousands of years before the arrival of the Spanish in 1532.

Our Favorite Doll Fan Video from YouTube for Thanksgiving:

1. Thanksgiving Turkey for Dolls from OMaG
2. The Worst Thanksgiving - AGSM (mini movie)
3. DIY American Girl Doll Thanksgiving Food + Decor by SewCraftyAG
4. American Girl Doll Thanksgiving from americangirlashlyn
5. American Girl Doll Thanksgiving Room Set UP
6. DIY An American Girl Doll Thanksgiving
7. American Girl Doll Thanksgiving Food
8. No Food on Thanksgiving?
9. Thanksgiving Lunch
10. Thanksgiving Cooking from mixiepixie
11. What the Dolls Are Thankful For . . .

How People Celebrated Thanksgiving Long Ago...

1. Ezra's Thanksgivin' Out West - Ezra had written a letter to the home folks, and in it he had complained that never before had he spent such a weary, lonesome day as this Thanksgiving Day had been.
2. A Pioneer Thanksgiving  - The first ''Thanksgiving" of which I have any recollection was many years ago, "away down in Maine," in the old farmhouse that was located upon the banks of the St. Croix river at Calais, Washington county. (from O'Brien's Pioneer Memories)
3. Dress Like a Pilgrim - Contrary to popular belief, Pilgrims did not dress in all black. by GSMD (Mayflower descendants)
4. The Other National Bird - How the turkey was once considered to be the U.S. national bird...
5. Lincoln's Timeless Thanksgiving Proclamation from 1863 - from the National Archives
6. wigwam timelapse - Funding for the wigwam generously provided by the Vernon D. and Florence E. Roosa Family Foundation Memorial Fund of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and by the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area.
7. Origin Of Thanksgiving Food - The surprising origins of Thanksgiving foods by PBS
8. The Wild Turkey, A Vanishing Game Bird - In the pioneer period of American life, wild turkeys roamed over wide areas from New England to Texas...
9. The Powhatan Natives - One of the most famous stories in our American history centers about a fun-loving Indian girl known as Pocahontas.

Harvest Here and Now: Recipes, Inspiration and Growing Things!

1. Harvesting Cranberries in Cape Cod
2. Thanksgiving Features Native American Foods
3. Three Sister Soup from Bertha Skye
4. How to Deep Fry a Turkey and Family Traditions from allofdestiny
5. Growing Ancient Grains In Your Garden
6. Making Fresh Pumpkin for Pies The Fast & Easy Way
7. How to Make Navajo Fry Bread
8. The Farmer Growing 400 Different Kinds of Potatoes
9. Native Grains - Lets make bread!
10. Sweet Team Cook Thanksgiving Dinner!
11. Soft & Fluffy Pumpkin Dinner Rolls
12. Why Leaves Change Color
13. Turkey Farm Prepares for Thanksgiving
14. How Native Americans Are Saving Vegetables from Extinction
15. How to Cook An Entire Thanksgiving Dinner: Step by Step Instructions
16. How To Make Pumpkin Cakes for Desert
17. Making The Ultimate Thanksgiving Holiday Feast with Rita

Poems About: Autumn, Thanksgiving, Fall Months:

1. The Night Before Thanksgiving - 'Twas the night before Thanksgiving...'
2. A Thanksgiving Dinner - 'Young Turkey Gobbler, with highly arched head...'
3. A Thanksgiving Acrostic - 'T is for turkey the biggest in town,'
4. Merry Autumn Days  - 'I Hail the merry autumn days...'
5. Five Kernels of Corn - 'Twas the year of the famine in Plymouth of old...'
6. September  - 'Again has come the sweet September...'
7. Thanksgiving On The Farm  - 'Oh, it surely seems years since the dear children's voices...'
8. Cat's Thanksgiving Day - 'Give me turkey for my dinner...'
9. The Feast-Time of the Year - 'This is the feast-time of the year...'
10. Miss Maple Tree's Party - 'Miss Maple Tree a party gave...'
11. Harvest Time by Clara R. Bete - 'Jack Frost is dressing up the trees...' 
12. My Apple Tree - 'I had a lovely apple..."
    
13. Indian Children - 'Where we walk to school each day...'
14. The Flower-Fed Buffaloes -'The flower-fed buffaloes of the spring...'
15. In The Indian Summer - 'The squirrels chattered in the leaves...'

Kids Talk About Thanksgiving:

1. Pilgrim Life with Scholastic News
2. The Wampanoag Way (for kids)
3. Kids Picking Cranberries the Old Fashioned Way
4. 100 Years of Thanksgiving
5. Thankful for Edmunds School

Poems About Giving in General:

• Giving by John Martin

Films for A Kid Friendly Thanksgiving:

The Indian in the Cupboard
 movie poster.

• Indian In The Cupboard: Trailer,  1995 American family fantasy drama film directed by Frank Oz and written by Melissa Mathison, based on the children's book of the same name by Lynne Reid Banks. The story is about a boy who receives a cupboard as a gift on his ninth birthday. He later discovers that putting toy figures in the cupboard, after locking and unlocking it, brings the toys to life. Read more...
• Pocahontas: Trailer, 1995 American animated musical romantic drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. Read more...
• Dances With Wolves for older teens: Trailer, 1990 American epic Western film starring, directed and produced by Kevin Costner. It is a film adaptation of the 1988 book of the same name by Michael Blake that tells the story of Union Army lieutenant John J. Dunbar (Costner) who travels to the American frontier to find a military post and of his dealings with a group of Lakota. Read more...

"Diving over haystacks!" silhouette.

Season Ambience Video:

• Pumpkin Farm and Falling Leaves
• Autumn Bossa Nova Cafe
• Sunny Autumn Morning in Tree Tops