Justice Dept.: Indian tribes allowed to use eagle feathers, parts

A Bald Eagle is pictured at the zoo of the French eastern city of Amneville, on June 5, 2012. / JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN/AFP/GettyImages

WASHINGTON The Justice Department is going to allow members of federally recognized Indian tribes to possess eagle feathers, although that's a federal crime.

This is a significant religious and cultural issue for many tribes, who were consulted in advance about the policy the department announced Friday.

The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and other federal wildlife laws criminalize the killing of eagles and possession of feathers and bird parts, but the Constitution and federal laws also give tribes local sovereignty for self-government.

Under the new policy, tribal members will not be prosecuted for wearing or carrying federally protected birds, bird feathers or parts. They also may pick up feathers found in the wild as long as they do not disturb federally protected birds or nests.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the new Justice Department policy struck the right balance between enforcing wildlife laws that protect eagles and respecting the cultural and religious practices of federally recognized Indian tribes.

Members of federally recognized tribes are covered by the new policy regardless of whether they have a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permit.

The department said the policy was issued to address concerns of tribal members who are unsure of how they may be affected by federal wildlife law enforcement efforts.

"From time immemorial, many native Americans have viewed eagle feathers and other bird parts as sacred elements of their religious and cultural traditions," said Assistant Attorney General Ignacia Moreno, head of the department's environmental and natural resources division. She called the new policy "a major step forward by establishing a consistent and transparent policy to guide federal enforcement of the nation's wildlife laws."

[lonestar9000]

My cultural heritage is Dutch, yet if I go and stick my finger in a ****, I'd get arrested for sexual harassment. Yar! Yar! Yar! God, I've really gotta switch to decaffeinated.

[tsigili]

That would be a correct decision.

On the other hand, it is not a Native practice to willfully kill for feathers or parts of any creature. It would have been permissible to kill such birds only as a source of food, in Native cultures.

As in the case of all humans, of course, some do not follow the rules.

[lifeduringwartime]

So what do eagles taste like, great blue heron? I kind of doubt any Indian would eat an eagle just for the feathers.

[superdem1]

I'm not sure this is a good idea. No one admires and respects native American culture more than me, and I especially love the feathers which are obviously iconic. I have gone to powwows, and the feathers are spectacular. But many things humans used to do were destructive, and should not be allowed today just because they were "traditional." Killing eagles for their feathers makes no more sense than killing tigers or bears for their parts in traditional medicines. If the feathers of other non-threatened birds can be used instead, should this tradition be brought back ? Could there be - or is there now - a black market in eagle feathers and parts ? Found feathers shed naturally seem innocent, but are they really found ? This is a bad day for eagles, real deaths of real birds are guaranteed, to perpetuate something very questionable.