1. The doll is bottle shaped, round straight sided body narrowing to the ball shaped head. It is entirely made of palm fibre tightly packed with a kapok (see notes). At the bottom is a separate flat piece of palm fibre sewn on. All hand sewn. The top and back of the head is covered with black cotton, to which is sewn black wool strands which have been plaited. The facial features are embroidered - red wool for the mouth and white wool, crossed vertically with black wool, for the eyes. Red wool is also used to tied each plait.
The doll is dressed in the traditional Seminole patchwork cape and skirt with multicoloured strands of glass beads around the neck. The cape is made of circles of red, turquoise blue and white cotton decorated with bands of yellow, pink, black and red braid. The skirt is made from two circles of red cotton, with a band of yellow and blue patchwork between; it is decorated with strands of blue and white braid. The clothing has been machine stitched then hand sewn to the body using yellow cotton.

The dolls are still being made by older women in the villages, basically to the original designs but using some modern materials and methods, such as kapok instead of moss and machine stitiching on the clothing. There are a range of sizes, the larger the doll the more decorative and involved the clothing. This particular one was a mid price range and showed fully the patterning of the costume. Smaller dolls tended to have no patchwork panels whereas the larger ones have more decorative panels.

2. note supplied with each doll, it is a photocopy.

THE SEMINOLE DOLL
As told by the Seminoles:

A short time after the Seminole War, a Seminole mother was sewing together the palm netting for her chickee. She noted her young daughter playing with a stick doll. She had a creative idea and took the Palm fibre and fashioned a dolls head, on this she placed the sweet grass for hair, small beads for eyes and stitched a line for a mouth. She then fashioned a skirt from her own patchwork, a cape and then presented the doll to her daughter.
Other women from her Clan proceeded to make the dolls for their children as well. Jewelry was added, the hair was made of mosses and other grasses and today is made from yarn or other material as selected by the dollmaker herself. As other tribes came to visit the dolls became a trade item.
Today doll making is a craft done by the elder women. Few of the younger ones are taking an interest in this traditional doll.
The signature below is one of the elders (Alice Osceola)

*The Seminole War, for which there has never been a peace treaty signed, stopped about 1838 when the Native Americans were forced into the Everglades from northern areas such as Georgia. The army was not able to adapt to the conditions and eventually withdrew.