Intertribal Life Newspaper -

• Seminole Palmetto Doll Artist

• Folk Historian

Judy Baker learned the craft of Seminole palmetto doll-making from her grandmother and mother, and began crafting the dolls herself when she was around ten years of age.

"Palmetto dolls are made from fiber found in the middle of palmetto bark," she explains. "It's brown in color, stretches after being cut, and after it is dried, it can be fashioned into dolls. Palmetto grows in thickets, and is harvested with tools including axes, knives, saws, and sometimes files. One palmetto plant can yield between four and five dolls. The first Semi...