The debut of Mattel's new American Indian Barbie doll is drawing both praise and condemnation in Utah.
Unlike its 34-year-old blond, blue-eyed predecessor, the new Barbie has dark eyes, light brown skin and black, braided hair. Mattel claims she was inspired by the Apaches, with her fringed buckskin dress, silver jewelry and knee-high moccasin boots."I was really excited when they came out with it," said Larry Davis, a Navajo who manages the ZCMI toy department in downtown Salt Lake City. "To have a major company like Mattel make one says a lot."
The store just sold out of its second shipment.
Loretta Steele, a fifth-grade Goshute, wants one of the new dolls. She gave her two dark-skinned Barbies - one Hawaiian, the other black - to her younger cousins. Now all she has are blondes.
"I liked the darker ones better," says the 10-year-old. "I would like them to have the same color as (me)."
But Margaret Brady, who teaches American Indian studies at the University of Utah, is infuriated. She says Mattel has tried to boil down 400 tribes into a generic stereotype.
That's like designing a European doll that is a blend of French, Spanish and German, said Brady, a member of the Chickasaw Tribe.
"You are not attempting to understand another culture at all. You are trying to make money. It is the perfect example of Native Americans being exploited for Anglo-American consumerism," she said.