Mattel Has a New Cherokee Barbie. Not Everyone Is Happy About It.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A Barbie doll in the likeness of Wilma Mankiller, the first woman to be elected chief of the Cherokee Nation, has been hailed by tribal citizens. It’s also been lamented for its inaccuracies.
An event held Tuesday in Tahlequah, Okla., marked the anniversary of Ms. Mankiller becoming chief in 1985 and celebrated her Barbie doll. Mattel, the company that produces Barbie dolls, announced the new toy last month as part of the “Inspiring Women” series that includes the conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall, the journalist Ida B. Wells and the writer Maya Angelou.
The doll’s release has been met with some criticism. The doll itself portrays Ms. Mankiller, who died in 2010 , with dark hair, wearing a turquoise dress and carrying a basket, a depiction that Chuck Hoskin Jr., principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, said was “thoughtful” and “well done.” However, he noted that some in the community said the doll’s basket wasn’t authentically Cherokee.
Another issue was with the doll’s packaging, which used the wrong syllabary, or set of symbols used for the Cherokee language, for the nation’s seal, Mr. Hoskin said. As a result, the package syllabary read “Chicken Nation” instead of “Cherokee Nation.”
“ To someone who doesn’t read Cherokee syllabary, they’re not going to notice it,” Mr. Hoskin said. “To the Cherokee people for whom Wilma is of such enduring significance and we have such enduring love for her, to see our seal incorrect, it’s very disappointing because it would not have taken much effort or thought to avoid that.”
The packaging also identified the tribe as “Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma,” instead of the tribe’s official name, Cherokee Nation, which is used in all of the tribe’s treaties with the federal government.
“ I don’t like to blame anybody, but I really wish that they could have gotten the packaging correct,” said Pamela Iron, the executive director of the nonprofit American Indian Resource Center and a close of friend of Ms. Mankiller.
Mr. Hoskin learned that Mattel was designing the doll about six months ago, he said, and Mattel did not work directly with the Cherokee Nation before the unveiling. But Mattel was receptive to the criticism, he said.
“After some of the problems were revealed, we had very good conversations with Mattel. And I think they responded internally to us in a very thoughtful way and expressed some regret for not engaging us,” Mr. Hoskin said.
A representative for Mattel said in a statement that the company had worked closely “throughout the process” with Ms. Mankiller’s estate, led by her widower, Charlie Soap, in an effort to “best preserve and celebrate her legacy.” The company said it also collaborated with Kristina Kiehl, a friend of Ms. Mankiller, to design the doll.
“I don’t do dolls. I still believe she would be OK about the decisions we made about this project,” Mr. Soap, who is also a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, told the audience at the event in Tahlequah on Tuesday. “I think she would probably make a couple of comments about it, but I think she would be pleased.”
Born in 1945, Ms. Mankiller was chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1985 to 1995, during which tribal membership more than doubled. As a teenager in 1956, her family was uprooted to San Francisco from rural Oklahoma as part of a federal government program to move Indigenous families to urban areas — a move, Ms. Mankiller described in 1993 as her own “trail of tears.”
Before becoming chief, Ms. Mankiller was known for her activism. In 1969, she assisted Native American demonstrators in a 19-month occupation of Alcatraz to protest the U.S. government’s treatment of Indigenous people. She also worked in various roles within the Cherokee Nation government, eventually rising to deputy chief and then chief.
Ms. Mankiller focused on education, housing, health care and women’s rights during her tenure, which ended after a decade because of her poor health. In 1998, President Bill Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Mattel did not specify how it would address the packaging mistakes, but a spokeswoman told The Associated Press that the company was “discussing options.” The packaging inaccuracies did not come up during Tuesday’s event, which focused on Ms. Mankiller’s achievements.
Mr. Soap did not respond to a request for comment, though he did obliquely refer to complaints that the doll didn’t look enough like Ms. Mankiller.
“I think Wilma would think it’s kind of funny that people would be taking the time to comment on her likeness to the Barbie doll because Wilma didn’t want to be compared with other people,” Mr. Soap said in his speech. The audience included members of Ms. Mankiller’s family and tribal dignitaries.
“I’m so appreciative of the fact that we got girls that can play with an Indigenous Barbie,” Ms. Smoke-Conner said.
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Oy Vey! ... that's Cherokee for WTF!
When creating something that refers to or is a depiction of any particular nation or any racial, religious, or ethnic group the smart thing to do is to consult one (or more) members of that group to check that the details are actually accurate, that they do not express any demeaning stereotypes, etc.
It certainly is best to talk to the people that you're involved with. At least Mattel accepted the criticism and are working with the Cherokee Nation to correct it.
Would have saved a lot of trouble if they would have done that first.
Hey, the packaging with "Chicken Nation" on it is probably now worth a small fortune.
I dont think the costume is a big deal. I have a feeling few of Barbies costumes are completely true to the source.
The 'Chicken Nation' aspect is a big deal though.
"Cherokee Nation Of Oklahoma"? Yeah they should have got it right, but I dont think its a travesty.
So, are we going to see the same people freaking out over this that we saw over the NA kid who wore facepaint to a Chiefs game?
Just the same people freaking out over people freaking out. It's the soupe-du-jour.