Guardian of the North

Glenda McKay’s dolls, featured in museums across the country, are her master works. This doll, Guardian of the North, is doll number 35, one of only a few dolls she works on each year.

She works with materials harvested from nature by subsistence hunters, such as traditionally tanned bearded seal skin, moose hide, beaver, and bleached seal skin. Whale baleen shavings fill the body.

Size 22 (extremely small) beads adorn the clothing, arrow quiver, and knife sheath.

The face, knife and arrows are hand carved from walrus tusk. Eyes are made from size 18 beads inlaid with baleen. Arrows are fletched with feather and wrapped with caribou sinew. Bow is light baleen and caribou sinew.

Doll is 7 1/2″ high x 3 ” wide; base is 5 1/2″ deep x 5″ wide