She’s a Tlngit Girl, in a Barbie world?

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Mar 6, 2000

It is 1964 and I am sitting in my house with my mom and we live on a military base in Florida. My mom, black and gray headed dark eyes and semi dark skin. I am sitting next to her. I am dark headed, dark eyes and dark skinned. Lying next to me, on the floor, my play world. There was the pink car, the dream house and the very white Barbie. But did I notice? Did I notice she looked different then me? You bet I did. But I loved her anyway. She was part of my very special dream world. The world I thought was the perfect world.

Going back a bit, it is 1963. I remember I was getting on a bus once with my mother. We were in Georgia heading back to Oklahoma. My mom and I stepped up and the man motioned for her to get to the back, because you see, we looked different. My mom, being the proud American Indian woman that she was grabbed my hand, held her head high and while looking at everyone square in the eye, we walk to the back of the bus and sat down.

Not till I was older did I understand what that all meant.

I bet you're sitting there and wondering how this all ties in together. Well, just recently I read an article in the Anchorage Daily News about the new Tlngit Barbie. The article stated that Mattel actually went to the Tlngit Tribe and asked for their help on the development of this new Barbie. Yet when the final product came up for a review it looked nothing like what had been planned. The colors on the Robe were not the colors that they should have been and her skin is still a bit to light. Mattel stated that if they put the true colors of the Tlngit Tribe on her Robe, it would not be pleasing to the eye. But I must say, her facial features do somewhat resemble that of a Northwest American Indian. Not the standard European features you see on so many of the Ethnic Barbie's. (I was going to insert a link here for the article but you can only get full text articles "the day of" at the Anchorage Daily News web site. Instead here is a link to the Mattel Barbie site it self: http://barbie.com/collectors/00_preview/... It does seem that Mattel is trying harder to make their Barbie's politically correct but yet they still do not go all the way. Why not put the right colors on the Robe? Why not make her skin a bit darker if need be?

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The copyright of the article She’s a Tlngit Girl, in a Barbie world? in Native-American News is owned by Loribeth Hawkeye-Wade. Permission to republish She’s a Tlngit Girl, in a Barbie world? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.