Crow Creek Resumes Stamp Program

Stamp Policy Initiated

During the early 1990s, the Creek Sioux Tribe received many inquiries from collectors regarding the availability of their stamps. After their stamp program has resumed, the Tribe established a policy specifically to deal with collectors. The Tribe would not sell stamps to collectors while they were still valid for hunting or fishing. However, expired stamps were made available to collectors for a period of six months following the end of the fall seasons. After that time, all remainders from the previous year were to be destroyed (see Figure 8). According to Crow Creek Wildlife Director Kevin Kirkie, this policy was expected to remain in effect for several years on a trial basis (Kirkie, 1995).

 

 

 

 

When ordering stamps from any tribe, two things be kept in mind. First, selling fish and game stamps to collectors is of fairly low priority to tribal conservation officials. Tribal licensing personnel frequently share in other duties and responsibilities that keep them very busy. Therefore, collectors should not be alarmed or surprised if it takes up to two months for their orders to be filled. Second, although tribal licensing personnel are slowly becoming more sensitive to the needs of collectors with regard to the needs of collectors with regard to condition, occasional faults (especially creases) are to be expected. (By the same token, collectors should be aware that small faults do not effect an Indian Reservation stamp’s value as they do say pictorial state or federal waterfowl stamps.) Requests for exchanges will be handled on a case by case basis, depending on the supply of stamps and the human resources available at the time the request is made.

 

Update: The Crow Creek Stamp Collector Policy remained in effect through 1999. Starting in 2000, it was repealed and collectors were no longer able to purchase stamps directly from the tribe.