The USPS released the Raven Story forever stamp on Friday. The stamp was designed by Juneau artist Rico Lanáat’ Worl. Worl is the co-owner of, appropriately Trickster Company, which uses traditional Northwest Coast art in their designs.
The postal service gets tens of thousands of designs for their stamps, and Worl is the first Lingít artist to have his work featured on a stamp. A ceremony was held in Juneau to commemorate the release.
It’s quite the feat to try to tell the Raven’s story on such a small canvas, but Worl manages to catch the magic. In the story, the Raven steals the sun from a box to release to the world, aka The Trickster. On the stamp, the Raven is depicted as escaping through the smokehole in a long house, surrounded by stars, with the sun in its beak.
If you receive letters from me, expect the Trickster to be on the envelope.
August 3rd, 2021 at 4:33 AM
That’s awesome! I remember seeing that type of art in NatGeo when I was a kid, and finally saw some in person in the PNW about 20-years ago. Always thought some of those images were really cool.
August 3rd, 2021 at 6:28 PM
I agree. Definitely a perk to living in Alaska is the visibility of Native Alaskan art.