Doxtator Cheyanne

Article by Tekonwakwenni Nantioke
Indian Time Vol 31#2
January 2013

Soapstone carvings, beadwork

Over the years, we have met some very talented people via this Artist Spotlight column. We've come to know artists that use paint, pencil, charcoal and many other methods. But it has been a while since we've met a sculptor.

If you have ever worked with soapstone, or any other carving material, you know that it takes a lot of skill, patience and determination to create beautiful masterpieces. One slip of the chisel or rasp (both carving tools) can easily ruin a piece that's been weeks in
the making. However, if you're as talented as Cheyanne Doxtator, mistakes like that seldom happen.

Cheyanne, originally from Six Nations and currently residing here in Ahkwesahsne, learned to carve when she was just 16. Her friend's parents, Eunice Henry and Vince Bomberry, taught her and her friends. Both Henry and Bomberry are well known for their
work in soapstone and are also two of Cheyanne's heroes, along with Stan Hill and Cyril Hill. Often during her visits to her friend's house, which was converted from an old school bus, she would spend hours listening to music and carving.

She gathers inspiration from the traditional teachings that have been with her since childhood, as well as her surroundings. When she first began to carve, she created pieces of people holding tobacco leaves. This eventually led to the more intricate carvings of the
Thunder Beings and how the Bear Clan people were given the medicines. She would later carve pieces that depicted the traditional teachings and what they meant to her. She has work that portrays everything from her clan and traditions to her family, of which has become her greatest inspiration.

The skill she demonstrates while carving with chisels and other tools is just as brilliant as the skill she has with thread and needle, for she creates gorgeous ribbon shirts and dresses.

She sewed her first outfit for her eldest daughter to wear while receiving her name in the longhouse. She has sewn many outfits, often adorned with her own beadwork, for her family and for other people in the community. She can create the many different styles of
clothing of the Haudenosaunee.

Her first sewing project came while she was in grade school. She was to build a doll that would wear a ribbon dress. This first project was the stepping-stone or the creation of "Yo Yo Weh Babies." Yo Yo Weh Babies are cloth dolls that wear traditional clothing. Some of the dolls include a 10 second recording of her daughter singing a song in one of the six languages within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

Beadwork is often added to the outfits she creates for both her family and the handmade cloth dolls. She was introduced to beading in grade 8, where she beaded flowers and vines that bordered a picture frame she created. She draws inspiration from the older style
of raised beadwork that is often found only in museums.

Cheyanne is in the beginning stages of carving a soapstone work of an owl and the connection that it has to the Tutelo people. Her grandfather is the inspiration for what will be another one of her exquisite works.

Cheyanne does take orders for her carvings, outfits, headwork and dolls and may be contacted by-email: tsodahaiyo@yahoo.com or phone 518- 358-9682.
Yo Yo Weh Babies can be found on Facebook as well.