Hearts for Hearts Doll Mosi

I bought Hearts for Hearts doll Mosi.

I think she is really cute.

However, respect needs to be used when portraying Native Americans, and I feel that the company made some iffy choices here.

Straight out of the box, I took that stupid plastic blue feather off. There is no reason for it, and it just plays into the who Native American stereotype thing.

Next I took off her Thunderbird danglies, because the Thunderbird is a sacred animal.

I also replaced her tunic with a long sleeved T-shirt that I made from the free Liberty Jane T-shirt pattern.

There she is!

I think the pale blue shirt matches the grey striped leggings better than the red tunic that she came with.

I like her much better this way.

Here is Mosi in the box. It showed the prototype, not the actual doll. I wish they had changed this with the re-release.

The side of the box said something that really bothered me.

It says, "Like all Hearts for Hearts Girls, Mosi's fashions are authentic to her culture."

This is so stupid! Native Americans wear normal people clothes. Apart from her feather and Thunderbird earrings, Mosi is not wearing anything that is special to her culture, and I think she is better off not wearing those for sensitivity reasons.

I always thought of Hearts for Hearts outfits, like Consuelo's and Lillian's, to be creative reimagionings that combine the traditional wit the modern. I don't think anyone is real life wears exactly the clothes that they were, and this is a very stupid claim to make, especially on a Native American doll.

Some people have complained that Mosi is marketed as a generic Native American, instead of a particular tribe.

It is true that there are many different tribe with different traditions, and that they should not all be lumped together.

However, there is a reason behind this.

There is a law that says tribe names cannot be used without the permission of the tribe on items for sale. This protects the tribe and allows it to control its image to some extent.

Hearts for Hearts did not have permission from a specific tribe to use their name, so Mosi HAD to be marketed as a generic Native American..

Mosi has the same face mold as Consuelo.

She has a different hair style, slightly darker hair and eyes and different eyebrows, lip color and face up.

I think they are different enough to justify owning both. Consuelo has a more serene facial expression, and Mosi looks slightly worried. It is very cute.

I was surprised that Mosi's hair is curly and comes in a ponytail. It is cute and I like it, but you would never guess from her stock images.

You can read another review of Mosi by Nethilia on the Toybox Philosopher.

I like Mosi a lot, but I think her Native American heritage should be handled with care.