Photo: Whooping Cranes, Kristine Colburn/Audubon Photography Awards
Jo Doumbia, Diversity and Inclusion Chair
To protect birds, both the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act prohibit possession of parts of or feathers of eagles and other wild birds of North America. There are MBTA exceptions for legally hunted waterfowl or other migratory gamebirds, and both acts include exceptions for uses by Native Americans for cultural and religious activities. The exceptions strike a balance between protection of birds and protection of the cultural heritage of Native Americans.
Various ceremonies among more than 900 tribes across the country may require feathers from canaries, hawks, woodpeckers, or other birds. Some might need to be from a male or female. Others call for birds of a certain age. Risling Baldy, a Native American associate professor and department chair of Native American Studies at Cal Poly Humbolt in Arcata, CA said that, for the Hoopa Valley Tribe, the use of feathers in ceremony is a way to stay connected to the K’ixinay or “First Peoples.”
The feathers of certain birds also are believed to possess powers and must be treated with respect. Eagle feathers often are used in spiritual ceremonies, such as naming ceremonies, honoring ceremonies and the sun dance. Rosa Little Thunder, a Lakota linguist, artist and environmental activist states, “The spotted eagle flies high and therefore reaches places that we don’t know about. . . . [T]he spirit of the spotted eagle is considered to be very powerful. It brings really good advice from elsewhere, places that other things don’t go.”
Whooping Cranes, Debra Strothman/Audubon Photography Awards
The Yuchi people, who reside in northeastern Oklahoma, wear the feathers of the Whooping Crane before performing their annual ceremonies. Their agreement with the nation of cranes is simple: when they sing the Whooping Crane’s songs, they must wear his feathers. As populations of the crane declined, and the bird approached extinction, the Yuchi people had a harder time obtaining crane feathers; however, by 2011, Scott Stafford, second chief at the Yuchi ceremonial ground Duck Creek, was able to provide for ceremonial use crane feathers from the molted plumage of a Whooping Crane being rehabilitated by the International Crane Foundation, a wildlife center dedicated to the birds. “If we don’t have them, it is extremely detrimental to our annual ceremonies and what we observe,” Stafford said. “It is extremely important to maintain that connection.”
Birds, as winged messengers, have a special place in spirituality and ceremonies. In some Native American traditions, when a person dreams or has a vision about a certain animal, the person may then wear attire related to that animal. As Jace DeCory and Rosalie Little Thunder indicate, a person wearing the emblems of an animal is mimicking the desired characteristics of that animal. For example, in the eagle dance, a dancer is mimicking the eagle and hoping to gain characteristics associated with the eagle, such as intelligence.
Kwihnai Mahkweetsoi Okweetuni, co-director and cofounder of the Comanche Nation Ethno-Ornithological Initiative, states that the Comanche send prayers to the Almighty through eagles by using whistles made from their wing bones and fans made from their feathers. To the Comanche community, Golden Eagles are the only animals that can fly “high enough and far enough to see the face of God,” and that when “we pray, the eagle is what takes our petitions to the Almighty.” She also writes, “We’re too humble to go directly to God so we use animals as intermediaries. . . . We pray through all the eagles in the world, and when we’re in ceremony and prayer, we can feel where there are imbalances.”
Some Native American leaders have spiritual bird helpers. For the Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse (Tȟašúŋke Witkó, literally, “His horse is crazy”), it was the hawk. Crazy Horse is reported to have shown modesty by wearing hawk feathers in his hair rather than eagle feathers. The owl also can serve as a spiritual guide. Educator and Standing Rock tribal member Jace DeCory indicated that the great white owl was a spirit helper for her grandfather.
Of course, different cultures may interpret the significance of certain birds in different ways, and one person’s spiritual guide may be a signifier of evil to another. Shepard Krech, an anthropology professor at Brown University, writes, “Owls were without doubt the most dreaded and dangerous birds in the South,” noting that they were not only ill omens but also were perceived “as witches and spirits bent on malevolence.” Among some Pueblos in the Southwest, possession of owl feathers is an indicator that one is a witch or at least intent on doing evil. To ward off witches, some place owl effigies above their doors, on roofs, or in crooks of trees.
Certain ceremonies may not use bird parts or feathers but call upon bird spirits. During the Lakota healing ceremony (Yuwipi), the healer is tied up with a special blanket and rope while praying for healing. The healer may pray to different birds, including eagles, hawks, owls, robins or blackbirds, depending on the healer and the goals of the ceremony. After the spirits are summoned and communicate with the healer, they are said to untie the healer before leaving.
Birds also may provide insight into future events. According to Northern Plains teachings, the power of birds is to be respected and held in high esteem. When asked about the role of birds, Rosalie Little Thunder simply replied, “Wakan,” a term often translated as “sacred.”
The importance of birds to Native American culture is also clear even without reference to specific ceremonies. Shepard Krech notes that Native Americans from the south and elsewhere appear in historical “images in feather capes, crowns, sashes and headdresses.” And many clans among the Pueblos are named for birds (Eagle, Turkey, Parrot, Macaw, and Roadrunner). And images of eagles, ospreys, thunderbird and raven, are prevalent in the art of Native Americans from the northwest coast. The raven is commonly at the top of totem poles, because many northwest coast tribes associate the raven with the beginning of life. And stories about what Native Americans can learn from birds are common. For example, the Mariposa Mewuk, who lived in the Yosemite Valley, relate that Kah-kool, the raven who blackened himself with ashes to make himself less visible when hunting, was the first to learn how to use deer meat for food.
The history of Europeans’ relationship with Native Americans is one of losses for Native Americans, and the relationship among the U.S. government and the tribes often is still contentious. President Biden’s historic apology in October 2024 to Native Americans for the government’s boarding schools, which separated children from their families with the aim of erasing tribal identities, is a step towards further recognition of the importance of Native American traditions and spiritual practices. It is heartening to consider that, at least in this one area, ceremonial use of bird feathers and parts, the laws already acknowledge the importance of their heritage.