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RANKIN INLET
She's the hottest doll in the country and she's proudly Inuk.

AddyBelle Lindell, left, and Tati ConnellyClark, recently had this photo of them playing with their Saila dolls selected as one of the winners in a national contest. - photo courtesy of Cas Connelly-Clark

Saila Qilavvaq lives in Iqaluit and is one of the Maplelea Girls dolls manufactured in Canada by Avonlea Traditions Inc.

When she was introduced to the Maplelea lineup in 2011, Saila became the hottest-selling doll in Canada and one of the country's top 10 selling toys.

In addition to Saila, the Maplelea Girls feature a doll from Toronto, rural Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Banff and Quebec City.

They are well-made, not available in stores and extremely popular among young girls, with more than 50,000 being sold since they were introduced in 2003.

At a cost of $99, they're not cheap, but they come with their own storage box and journal, with Saila's being written in Inuktitut, English and French.

They have hobbies, favourite foods, family members and a whole host of accessories.

A puppy named Nanuq can even be purchased for Saila, which fits snugly in the back of her amauti.

Some of Saila's accessories are made in Nunavut, with her "Pang hat" being crocheted by women in Pangnirtung and her amauti made in Arviat at Kiluk Ltd.

When the amauti was first introduced, the orders came in so fast and furious, Kiluk had to hire five additional women to help its three full-time seamstresses create 900 of them.

Tati Connelly-Clark has had her Saila doll for about a year now and is a huge fan.

She considers Saila a friend in many ways, and plays with her every day.

Tati saves her money to buy Saila accessories and, this past spring, while she and her mom, Cas, were checking out what was new, they came across a contest.

Tati called her friend, Addy-Belle Lindell, 8, (also a huge Saila fan) to tell her about the contest.

A photo was taken of the two Rankin Inlet girls playing with their dolls, sent in to Maplelea Girls, and their entry was one of three selected.

They received a gift certificate for Saila accessories and their photo is included in the lineup's new catalogue.

Tati, who turned nine on Sept. 26, said she likes Saita because she's so pretty.

She said she's also a lot of fun to play with.

"You can get lots of different stuff for her like clothes, shoes, a qamutiik and lots of other things," said Tati.

"Lots of my friends have Saila and none of us give her a different name.

"Saila is who she is.

"Addy-Belle and I play with our dolls a lot together, and she has a lot of stuff for her doll, too."

Tati said she was excited to win the contest.

She said it was really exciting to see their picture in the magazine.

"I wanted to get more clothes for Saila with the gift certificate I won and I picked Nunavut Now for her.

"It's like a complete outfit of clothes and stuff for her."

Tati's dad, David, said every girl his daughter's age who he knows has the Inuit doll.

He said from what he's seen, they all just love playing with Saila.

"It's pretty cool the hats are made in Pang and the amauti in Arviat, with some (amauti) supposedly even being made right here in Rankin.

"They're very high-quality dolls and you can buy just about anything for them, even beds and hockey gear."

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