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Listen: The Gospel ProgramMary B. Billie displaying work during the process of attaching a Seminole doll head to the body
Image Number
Photographer
Date
Date Note
Rights
Collection
Seminole Slide/Tape Project (Palmetto Dolls)
Geographic Term
Subject Term
Personal Subjects
Physical Description
General Note
Accompanying note: "Mary stuffs the head with pieces of palmetto fiber. 'If she uses something else like cotton, the needle won't go through that cotton. So she uses that palmetto fiber. Then she would put the palmetto fibers inside the doll to make it stand.'"
"Mary often saves time by stuffing the bodies with cotton instead of fiber, 'since the body doesn't need much sewing.'"
Mary B. Billie has been a dollmaker since she was 17. She learned the skill by watching her mother, who had learned it from Mary's grandmother.
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