UA Press publishes book on Alaska Native dolls

Submitted by Sue Mitchell
Phone: (907) 474-6413
05/22/06

Fairbanks, Alaska--The University of Alaska Press has just released a substantially revised second edition of the only definitive book covering dolls and human figurines from all Alaska Native cultures.

"Not Just a Pretty Face: Dolls and Human Figurines in Alaska Native Cultures" is an engaging exploration of the role of dolls and doll making, from ancient ivory carvings to the current thriving tourist market.

The authors explore the ethnographic literature, twentieth-century oral histories and photographic documentation of dolls and the doll-making process. Contemporary doll makers explain, in their own words, how they learned to make dolls and what doll making means to them. The second edition features a photo essay on Rosalie Paniyak of Chevak, one of the most influential doll makers in Alaska today.

"Not Just a Pretty Face" provides a panoramic view of an ancient tradition and situates the art of doll making within a contemporary context. Scholarly, yet accessible, "Not Just a Pretty Face" is a lively contribution to the literature on dolls, anthropology and Native studies.

Editor Molly Lee is curator of ethnology and history at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. She is the author, with Gregory A. Reinhardt, of the critically acclaimed "Eskimo Architecture: Dwelling and Structure in the Early Historic Period."

"Not Just a Pretty Face: Dolls and Human Figurines in Alaska Native Cultures," ISBN 1-889963-85-3, is available in hardcover for $24.95 and is 80 pages long with color photos, index and bibliography

For ordering information on this or any University of Alaska Press book, please contact: Julie Berg, at (907) 474-5831, or via e-mail at fypress@uaf.edu.