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.
“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 told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
A ceremony marking the release of Worl’s Raven Story stamp was held Friday in Juneau, where Worl lives. The event featured dancers, including Worl, and the telling of a version of the Raven story.
Two ravens, birds that are ubiquitous in Juneau, happened to fly overhead after the story was told.
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 said.
Raven, a trickster or transformer, is a key…
