Bear's Blog

I recently bought a doll for the first time in many years – not for my daughters this time, but for myself. Linda Thurston, an assistant in our Advanced Series who graduated last year, brought four dolls made by Scott Frazier to class. Scott, a Crow/Santee, has been participating in Linda’s Wolf Tracker tours in Yellowstone Park this past summer. Linda brought Native spirituality, with the help of Scott, into her biology tours as part of her McKay Method Graduate project. Much to Linda’s amazement, the scientists on the tours were powerfully moved by the addition of this spiritual dimension, honoring the Park and the wildlife they came to view.

Scott started making these dolls based on one his great-grandmother had. They were intriguing; each one had a heart-based energy field of approximately six inches surrounding the doll. Here is how he describes the process of making them:

 “After the hair is on everybody I put the dolls on stands and wait to see what they want to wear. Then everything unfolds as it should. They are who they are without me deciding who I want them to be. After I finish each doll I place them on a doll stand to watch over me making the rest of the family. I think they decide who they want to be with and go home.”

I went for the doll with the crazy hair, all in skins. I thought it would go on my altar but I have actually found myself communing with it, cradling the doll against my chest as I read each night before bed. I named my doll Sa-man-po (after a Native guide) and he has a lot of personality. I forgot how much fun a doll can be!

Each time we interact with an object we imbue it with energy and meaning. Is there a hand tool that you use that shows the care and attention with which you use it? Is there a beautiful vase that you grace with flowers and gaze appreciatively at? I have a ripped up pair of old hiking boots that have walked many continents with me, and I still have them in view. Our relationship with memory, truth and beauty is exemplified in these objects – what we value, what we love.

Peace, love and healing -

Bear