COVER N. 593 - USA

Postmark: Powwows First Day of Issue, Celebrating Native American Culture, Albuquerque, NM 87101 25.04.2025

Posted on the 25th April; Received on the 5thJune 2025

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A very beautiful issue on a very beautiful Cover. Thank you so much A. W.!

Also thank you for all the interesting gifts inside the cover, and for reminding me of the place we transitionally occupy on this Earth, with that beautiful Native America proverb, which I can't resist replicating here:

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.

As far as my distant understanding of such a rich cultural moment can be trusted, a  Powwow is an event organised by Native American communities to celebrate their rich heritage and traditions, through singing and dancing.

Honouring this unique tradition, USPS issued on 25APR2025 a set of four “Forever” stamps, illustrated with performing Native American dancers in traditional attire.

The images were based in photographs taken by the designer of the stamps,  native Cochiti Pueblo Artist Mateo Romero, which he then highlighted with brush strokes of bright, luminous colours.

The legends on each stamp  shed light as to the performance illustrated, and so we have from left to right: 

The  Crow Hop

A dance performed by men or women which replicates the movements of a crow, with short side to side hops.

Women's Traditional Dance

This dance celebrating women and their importance in the community, is characterised by the fact that the feet of the dancers never totally leave the ground, what symbolises the connection of women with  Mother Earth.

Women’s Fancy Shaw

A rather energetic dance with elaborate footwork and athletic movement and spinning.

Men’s hoop dance

A dance performed by a solo dancer with hoops, each representing elements of the relation of Man with Mother Earth.

The First Day postmark as well as the regular postmarks were issued in Albuquerque, the most populous city of the State of New Mexico  and also the site of the Gathering of Nations,  the largest annual Powwow that takes place in the United States of America.