Crow Indian Dolls: Connecting Lore, Legend and Landscape

According to Thompson, what in 1987 sold for around $1200 to $1500 would today cost twice as much. But whatever the price, these dolls convey a spiritual connection to a people, a tradition and a landscape and, as treasured commodities, are a way to preserve an indigenous culture. “You couldn’t put your money into a better piece of ethnography, because these things are beautiful and have personality — not to mention the artistic application of quills, beads and other materials that have survived time. Thompson, who likes the historic aspect of Native American Indian dolls, has at least 15 at his Garry Owen Trading Post; 15 at Custer Battlefield; and 10 at home. “You can’t own enough of it; it’s Montana history — the history of the people that held the land for so long before we even got here — right here in our back yard.”