Ooti
Maidem Kodom
2010
by Eric Whollem
copyright by the artist
Native American Tribal Stamps and the Faux Postage of Maidem Kodom
There is a genre of stamps called variously 'Indian Reservation Stamps'
or 'Native American Tribal Stamps.' The stamps that I have created for
Maidem Kodom, my own fanciful 'Maidu Nation' are not of these
categories, as they are 'faux postage stamps,' or 'phantom cinderellas'
as they might be called by collectors. They are my own artistic creations
and not authorized by any Native American group.
The first Native American group to issue stamps of their own was the
Rosebud Reservation of the Sioux in the 1950's. The Crow Creek
Sioux issued the first pictorial reservation Hunting Stamp in 1989.
See the link below to view these authentic Indian stamps.
Thus far most Native American stamps have either been Hunting
Permit Stamps or Tobacco Tax stamps.
Michael Jaffe wrote an article in which he gives a historical account
of Indian Reservation Stamps. In 1992, Jaffe writes, the Pine Ridge
Reservation of the Oglala Sioux issued some wildlife stamps that
were intended mostly for sale to collectors. This was followed by a
similar issue by the Sisseton Wapeton Sioux Tribe, who similarly
decided to create stamps for philatelic purposes. Most Native
American tribal stamps have been very limited editions of stamps
printed just for hunting and fishing permits.
CONCOW MAIDU FAUX POSTAGE STAMPS
Fantasy stamps have been created by artists for hundreds of years.
The first such stamp was created as a parody of the British Colonial
Tax stamps which aggravated the American Colonists. Subsequently in
1862 George Hussey designed a fantasy local courier post called
the Winan City Post, which caused a sensation among inventive stamp
designers in the 19th century. Copies and varieties of this stamp were
created until the year 1878.
Since then thousands of faux postage stamps have been designed
by artists. Names for this kind of stamp include: phantoms, artist stamps,
artistamps, cinderella stamps, fantasy stamps, postoids,
and micronational stamps.
'Maidem Kodom' means 'Land of the People.' It is the name of my
own postal micronation and is not authorized by any tribal
authority.
Ooti
Maidem Kodom
2010
by Eric Whollem
copyright by the artist
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE
The 'Mooretown Post Office' and the 'Mooretown Provisional Post' are
artistic liberties I have taken with the creation of these stamps which
are designed with the intention of celebrating Maidu cultural ideas
as they relate to the art that I have created over the years, having
lived, off and on, at Black Earth Village in Feather Falls, California
for about thirty-five years.
The old name for Feather Falls is Mooretown.
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The art on this stamp is made from earth colors that I gathered myself;
it is a detail of my painting entitled, 'King of the Wood.'
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Those interested in depictions of Native American Reservation Stamps should view this link:
Readers interested in Michael Jaffe's article on RESERVATION STAMPS should check this out:
For my own blog post about Native American Tribal Stamps see:
For an account of Faux Postage Stamps see Wikipedia:
For a look at my own Artist Stamp creations see:
For those interested in Duck Stamps and other Hunting Permit Stamps see this list of links, which is put online by the National Duck Stamp Collectors Society:
Readers interested in Micronation Stamps might want to read:
For my complete gallery of Maidu Indian Faux Postage Stamps see:
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ARTIST STAMPS
Artistamps, faux postage,
cyberstamps, mail art, micronation stamps,
cinderella stamps,
digital art,
fantasy stamps.
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