1996 32c American Indian Dances: Butterfly Dance

# 3073 - 1996 32c American Indian Dances: Butterfly Dance

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US #3073
1996 Butterfly Dance

  • Part of set of 5 picturing traditional dances
  • Dances represent tribes from all over US

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set:  American Indian Dances
Value:  32¢, First-Class mail rate
First Day of Issue:  June 7, 1996
First Day City:  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Quantity Issued:  27,850,000
Printed by:  Ashton-Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method:  Lithographed
Format:  Panes of 20 (5 across, 4 down) from printing plates of 120 (8 across, 15 down)
Perforations:  11.1

Why the stamp was issued:  This stamp is part of a set of five stamps issued to pay tribute to traditional Native American dances.  The dances were chosen to represent different areas of the US.

About the stamp design:  Keith Birdsong, an illustrator from Oklahoma, painted the stamp images using airbrush, acrylic, and colored pencils.  These were the first stamp images Birdsong produced for the USPS, though he had previously designed souvenir envelopes.
The artist based his artwork for the American Indian Dance stamps on photos of dancers.  The faces and costume details were changed to prevent portraying a living person on the stamp.  The dances include: Fancy Dance, Butterfly Dance, Traditional Dance, Raven Dance, and Hoop Dance.

Special design details:  The band at the bottom of each stamp is from digital clip art.  USPS art director Carl Herrman added color to the black-and-white clip art.

First Day City:  The First Day of Issue ceremony took place on the opening day of the Red Earth Native American Cultural Festival held in Oklahoma City.  The festival includes juried art and dance competitions.

About the American Indian Dances set:  The cultural heritage of Native Americans was celebrated on these stamps featuring five American Indian dances - the Fancy Dance, Butterfly Dance, Traditional Dance, Raven Dance, and Hoop Dance. The Traditional, Fancy, and Hoop dances are attributed to many tribes across the United States and are primarily performed at pow-wows. A ceremonial dance, the Raven Dance is only performed in the Pacific Northwest, while the Butterfly is performed by Southwest Pueblo tribes.  Each stamp shows a Native American in traditional dress for each dance.

History the stamps represent:  Butterfly Dance: The Butterfly Dance, native to the Tewa Pueblo Indians of the Southwest, is a dance of life. To them, the butterfly’s dramatic life cycle – from larva, to caterpillar, to pupa, and finally to a colorful, graceful butterfly – symbolizes the physical and spiritual renewal of life and growth.
Appropriately, the Butterfly Dance is performed in the spring by a couple chosen by the tribe. The maiden wears a white embroidered dress, beaded leather boots, and a massive array of eagle feathers on her back in imitation of butterfly wings. On her head she wears a butterfly-shaped tablita, decorated with feathers and crafted by her dancing partner. The youth, painted gray and white, wears a white kilt embroidered with the symbols of clouds, rain, and life. His kilt is belted with a rain sash and bells. On his back he wears a fox pelt; on his feet, beaded moccasins with skunk fur at the heels.
Facing each other, the couple moves back and away with small jumps. Pivoting, they travel backwards, toward each other. These movements are repeated many times as a symbolic re-enactment of the miracle of life.

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US #3073
1996 Butterfly Dance

  • Part of set of 5 picturing traditional dances
  • Dances represent tribes from all over US

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set:  American Indian Dances
Value:  32¢, First-Class mail rate
First Day of Issue:  June 7, 1996
First Day City:  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Quantity Issued:  27,850,000
Printed by:  Ashton-Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method:  Lithographed
Format:  Panes of 20 (5 across, 4 down) from printing plates of 120 (8 across, 15 down)
Perforations:  11.1

Why the stamp was issued:  This stamp is part of a set of five stamps issued to pay tribute to traditional Native American dances.  The dances were chosen to represent different areas of the US.

About the stamp design:  Keith Birdsong, an illustrator from Oklahoma, painted the stamp images using airbrush, acrylic, and colored pencils.  These were the first stamp images Birdsong produced for the USPS, though he had previously designed souvenir envelopes.
The artist based his artwork for the American Indian Dance stamps on photos of dancers.  The faces and costume details were changed to prevent portraying a living person on the stamp.  The dances include: Fancy Dance, Butterfly Dance, Traditional Dance, Raven Dance, and Hoop Dance.

Special design details:  The band at the bottom of each stamp is from digital clip art.  USPS art director Carl Herrman added color to the black-and-white clip art.

First Day City:  The First Day of Issue ceremony took place on the opening day of the Red Earth Native American Cultural Festival held in Oklahoma City.  The festival includes juried art and dance competitions.

About the American Indian Dances set:  The cultural heritage of Native Americans was celebrated on these stamps featuring five American Indian dances - the Fancy Dance, Butterfly Dance, Traditional Dance, Raven Dance, and Hoop Dance. The Traditional, Fancy, and Hoop dances are attributed to many tribes across the United States and are primarily performed at pow-wows. A ceremonial dance, the Raven Dance is only performed in the Pacific Northwest, while the Butterfly is performed by Southwest Pueblo tribes.  Each stamp shows a Native American in traditional dress for each dance.

History the stamps represent:  Butterfly Dance: The Butterfly Dance, native to the Tewa Pueblo Indians of the Southwest, is a dance of life. To them, the butterfly’s dramatic life cycle – from larva, to caterpillar, to pupa, and finally to a colorful, graceful butterfly – symbolizes the physical and spiritual renewal of life and growth.
Appropriately, the Butterfly Dance is performed in the spring by a couple chosen by the tribe. The maiden wears a white embroidered dress, beaded leather boots, and a massive array of eagle feathers on her back in imitation of butterfly wings. On her head she wears a butterfly-shaped tablita, decorated with feathers and crafted by her dancing partner. The youth, painted gray and white, wears a white kilt embroidered with the symbols of clouds, rain, and life. His kilt is belted with a rain sash and bells. On his back he wears a fox pelt; on his feet, beaded moccasins with skunk fur at the heels.
Facing each other, the couple moves back and away with small jumps. Pivoting, they travel backwards, toward each other. These movements are repeated many times as a symbolic re-enactment of the miracle of life.