John Hoover
(1919 - )

John Hoover, an Aleut born in Cordova, Alaska, now makes his home in Grapeview, Washington. While largely self taught, he has studied art with Leon Derbyshire in Seattle and has exhibited internationally. In the sculpture chosen for the Census 2000 poster, Raven the Creator, Hoover has added elements from the different legends about the raven. Stars dangle from the raven's beak, the sun and the moon hang from each wing. The human figures in his claws are formed to resemble the triptych icons used by the Orthodox faithful throughout the Aleut regions. The human face in the belly of the Raven represents Mother Earth. The face at the back of the head of the Raven is symbolic of the many transformations made by Raven. Raven the Creator is owned by the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage.

In 1990, there were approximately 86,000 Alaska Natives living in Alaska, an increase of 34 percent over 1980. This increase cannot be explained by natural increase (births minus deaths) alone. Improvements in the way the Census Bureau counts people, better outreach and promotion of the census, and other factors contributed to the gain. Census 2000 has incorporated even more improvements to insure even better results.