Crow Nation Fundraising Doll, about 1905
A student in Lodge Grass, Montana made this traditional Crow doll to raise money for the local Baptist-run school. The Bureau of Indian Affairs oversaw hundreds of local and boarding schools for Native children, where the stated goal was to eradicate their culture and force assimilation. Making a few dolls was not onerous, but at boarding schools, Native girls were forced to sew clothes for themselves and the schools’ boys, and to mend clothing and linens. Such forced labor was only one of many abuses called out in a 1928 report. Although many schools closed in the following years, some continued to operate into the 1970s.
Made by now unknown student. Lodge Grass, Montana. Leather, cotton, shell, glass beads. Gift of Gertrude Gardner Snyder 74.70
2: Frances Benjamin Johnston, “Carlisle Indian School, Carlisle, PA. Clothes Mending Class,” 1901. Library of Congress.
3: “Baptist Mission Day School – Lodge Grass – Prize winning exhibit at Crow Agency Fair,” 1905-1925
An almost identical doll is on display in this booth representing the Baptist school at Lodge Grass, Montana. The photo was taken by the Rev. William A. Petzoldt, minister and head of the school, who took hundreds of photographs during his ministry but did not date them; this may date some years after the known fundraising effort. How long the dolls continued to be made is not known. McCracken Research Library, Buffalo Bill Center of the West.