GUEST: I brought Naina.

Naina is a balsa wood doll carved by the San Blas Indigenous people.

The San Blas Islands are off the coast of Panama.

And this particular doll was presented to my mother when my mom was two years old, in 1938.

APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: Her father was stationed in Panama at the time.

My Grandfather kindly took pictures... ...of the, the individuals that presented my mother with this doll.

And dated it for us from August 7, 1938.

APPRAISER: Wonderful.

GUEST: She's made of balsa wood, as I said, because she is not only a doll, she is a kickboard.

APPRAISER: (chuckles) GUEST: And if you hold on to her feet in the water, she floats.

And you can learn to swim, which is very important for people who live on islands.

(laughs) Then we have, also have pictures of my, my mother with Naina, if you can see, right there, at her feet.

APPRAISER: And that's the same doll.

GUEST: Same doll, with her brother and her cousins back in Iowa.

And this is dated 1942.

So it would be shortly after their return from Panama.

APPRAISER: Wow.

GUEST: So Naina's been with us, and she's absolutely treasured for all that time.

(laughs) APPRAISER: Has your mom ever used it when swimming?

GUEST: Yes, she used it as a kickboard.

Um, so did I and my siblings when we were little.

APPRAISER: I've seen these, uh, from the Kuna Indian tribes...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...which are, which are in the, off the coast of the Atlantic, where you're talking about, in Panama.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: And I've known them as nuchas, or sick-healing dolls.

These were normally charged by the shaman with spirituality to protect and heal sick people.

And that's what the tribe used them for, traditionally.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: It's the typical style-- straight wood figure with a little cap headdress and short, bent knees, hands held close to the body.

If I were to put this at an auction, I, I would say $600 to $900.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: Yeah.

APPRAISER: And an insurance value of $1,500.

GUEST: Excellent!

APPRAISER: It, it's just because you have all this wonderful photo documentation to tie it all together.

And the story is beautiful.

You know.

GUEST: Thank you so much, my mom will be so happy.