Alaskan siblings tackle Native knockoffs with Indigenous designs

My Economy tells the story of the new economic normal through the eyes of the people trying to create it, because we know the only numbers that really matter are those in your economy.

Growing up in a tourist town awash with inauthentic, mass-produced souvenirs meant to represent your own culture might motivate you to bring some authenticity back to market.

“There’s a very big market for imitation Native American art,” said Rico Worl, a resident of Juneau, Alaska, and founder of Trickster Co. “Once people get off the cruise ships, they see a lot of it everywhere. And ironically, we’re interfering with that market and making space in our own market.”

Worl are Tlingit and Athabascan, and he and his sister Crystal draw on the aesthetics of their indigenous heritage to produce designs for the wide variety of items Trickster Co. releases.

Worl started with skateboards but has since added jewelry, umbrellas, dog leashes, blankets, sculpture, stationery and more.

A particularly popular item in the lineup is a deck of cards. Worl developed it in response to the cards available in local stores that featured native design work but traditional kings and queens on the faces.

“I really wanted to make a deck of cards for the next generation that enjoys playing cards and has their own people on it,” Worl said. “I actually made a second deck of cards using the Tlingit words for the numbers to encourage language learning as well. The interesting thing is that this deck still outsells the standard deck to this day.”