Alaska Native Artist Creates Stamp for Postal Service

Alaska Native artist Rico Worl said he jumped at the chance to create for the U.S. Postal Service a stamp he hopes will be a gateway for people to learn about his Tlingit culture. A ceremony marking the release of Worl’s Raven Story stamp is set for Friday in Juneau, where Worl lives.

“I think a lot of people already are learning that there’s a lot more richness in authentic work, and authentic work from Indigenous people and the stories that are there,” he said. Worl said his Twitter following exploded from five to more than 8,000 after he shared the Postal Service’s tweet highlighting the stamp announcement earlier this month, with his own quote tweet adding: “I did a thing.”

People seem excited, he said. “They know it’s something different, and they want to be a part of that,” Worl told The Associated Press. Raven, a trickster or transformer, is a key figure in Tlingit culture. Worl described as an influence for the stamp a story in which Raven discovers that a clan leader had in his possession the sun, moon and stars. Raven assumed human form to share those items with the world. The stars were in the last box Raven opened.

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