U.S. Program For Handling Dead Eagles Benefits Natives

In the US, eagles are a federally protected species; in fact, you cannot remove feathers you find on a dead one without proper permits. With the Bald and Golden Eagle being considered sacred by many nations throughout the country, it poses a special challenge to obtain feathers for ceremony.

A program of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, named the National Eagle Repository, is the place where aboriginal people can acquire eagles for traditional ceremonies from the federal government. For over 30 years, a tribal member seeking eagle parts would submit a request, and it would be filled. However, the waiting list has grown tremendously and getting a bald eagle can take more than two years, and for a gold eagle over four years.

The growing backlog has raised questions as to the usefulness of the program, along with several court cases regarding sovereignty and our ability to harvest the sacred creatures without needing federal approval.

After waiting for nearly 3 years, Lee Plenty Wolf, an Oglala Sioux Tribe member Living in Fort Collins, Colorado said, “More and more of our young people are going back to our spiritual way of life, and we can’t do our ceremonies without the eagles.”

When people find dead eagles, they are federally prohibited from taking the feathers. When found they are instead sent to the repository, which receives dozens of eagles or parts from all over the country every week. Eagles are sometimes found having died naturally, while others from power lines, or as roadkill. With more than 4500 requests coming in a year they cannot meet the demand, and in order to do so would require more dead birds.

The lengthy wait times have spurred some nations to draft plans to present to Fish and Wildlife allowing eagles to be harvested by permit holders on tribal land. Without a means of securing eagle feathers on their own, tribal members are subject to fines and prosecution, noting that often the birds received from the federal program are burned beyond usefulness.

Above all asserting our rights as sovereign entities to practice our own ceremonies is the heart of the issue, and playing out in federal courts across the country.