This Listing is for ONE New Sheet of 20 Raven Story Forever Stamps from 2021.
MNH. Mint. No flaws. From a Smoke-free and Pet-free Environment.
These Raven Story Forever stamps were issued by the U.S. Postal Service on July 30, 2021 in Juneau, AK. The artwork was created by Rico Worl (Tlingit & Athabascan from Juneau, AK) in an indigenous style called formline, which combines features of traditional representational art with abstract, linear forms - a style prominently featured in native masks, artwork, carvings, and sculpture of the region. The trickster, shapeshifter Raven (from Pacific Northwest, Native American folklore) is depicted midway through his metamorphosis from man back into bird, and so has wings and a beak, as well as a human hand (seen in the lower right of the stamp.) The stars, and the sun in his beak, are stamped in shiny gold foil, causing the stamp to sparkle in the light - honoring Raven's light-bringer role.
This stamp represents a story of great significance to the indigenous people of the Northwest Pacific Coast area ranging from southeast Alaska through coastal British Columbia and south into Washington state. Among the cultures of the region - which include the Tlingit, Tsimshian, Haida, Kwakwaka’wakw, and others - the raven plays an essential role in many traditional tales, including stories about the creation of the world.
According to some versions of the story, humanity lived in darkness long ago, but one chief possessed boxes that contained a collection of celestial bodies with the potential to illuminate the world. The immortal Raven - portrayed as a trickster and shapeshifter - coveted these lights and decided to find a way to become part of the chief’s household. He turned himself into a pine needle floating in the drinking water swallowed by the chief’s daughter, who later gave birth to raven as a human baby.
Raven loved the boxes that contained his grandfather’s treasured lights, and he begged and cried to be allowed to play with them. His grandfather let him play with the first box, and Raven set the stars free into the world. Raven then begged to play with the second box, promising he would not open it, but he did open it and set the moon free. Finally, Raven cried for forgiveness and asked to play with the third box. Demonstrating the immeasurable love of a grandparent, the grandfather let Raven play with it, and Raven at last released the sun and daylight into the universe.
Scott # 5620
A nice (no charge) 8-minute "Raven Story" (Tlingit tribe version) can be found at:
youtube.com/watch?v+0qdT2tjWI-E
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