Description

This is a Turkana Doll which has a carved wood body, woven fiber hair, leather hide skirt and neck covering, and conch shells. The Turkana are a semi-nomadic people of northwestern Kenya.  Turkana dolls were traditionally carved by older male relatives, with adornments fabricated by mothers and older sisters. As Kenya has a long history with tourism as well as with settlers of European origin, Turkana dolls, headrests and other traditional, used artifacts came to the attention of visitors as ethnographic souvenirs as early as the 1920’s.