BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) – American golden eagles face a growing threat from the black market for their feathers used in powwows and other Native American ceremonies, according to wildlife officials, researchers and tribal members.

The government’s response was twofold: a crackdown on rings illegally trafficking dead eagles coupled with a long-standing program that legally distributes eagle feathers and parts to tribal members.

But that program is several years behind schedule, and officials have said illegal killings appear to be getting worse, with young golden eagles particularly targeted because of the high value placed on their white and black feathers. Golden eagles, which are federally protected but not considered endangered, have already faced pressures from poisonings, climate change and wind turbines that kill the eagles in collisions.

An investigation centered on a Montana Indian reservation recently resulted in its first conviction: a Washington state man accused with others of killing thousands of birds, including at least 118 bald eagles and eagles. royals, and to have sold their pieces in the United States and abroad.

He faces several years in prison at a sentencing Thursday and could be ordered to pay up to $777,250 in restitution, in a prosecution that offers a rare glimpse into the black market.

Another investigation involving undercover agents turned up 150 golden and bald eagles over the past decade, with 35 defendants charged and 31 convicted of wildlife violations, according to court records and federal officials.

Perry Lilley, a member of the Nakota tribe in northern Montana, attends many powwows each year and says he has been asked to buy eagle feathers. He said illegal shooting was “absolutely wrong,” but he sympathized with tribal members who don’t want to wait years to get eagle parts.

Eagle feathers are woven in Native American culture. Beyond powwow regalia, they are presented to high school graduates, used in wedding ceremonies, and buried with the dead.

Harnessing indigenous traditions

A Colorado government depot that provides dead eagles and their parts to tribal members free of charge tracks orders for individual feathers, such as for graduates. Yet it is unable to meet the demand for eagle wings, tails and whole birds, even as powwows become more elaborate and competitive.

This leaves an opening for criminals to exploit Native Americans by trying to keep their traditions alive.

“The amount of money you can make at powwows has increased a lot over the last 10 years, which has increased some of the demand,” said Ed Grace, chief of law enforcement. of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. “If the price of feathers goes up, people… become opportunistic and realize that you can make a lot of money in a relatively short period of time by poaching eagles to support the feather trade.”

Eagle feathers were on display at a recent powwow in Billings, where dozens of feather-adorned Native Americans paraded through a college stadium to kick off dance competitions. Their feet moved to the beat of a drum, whose rhythmic sounds were periodically interrupted by high-pitched chants.

The women carried fans made of eagle feathers. The men wore eagle feather headdresses that bounced as they danced.

At the head of the procession was a man brandishing a staff topped with an eagle’s head. Behind him, among the tribal elders, was Kenneth Deputee, Sr., from the nearby Crow Indian Reservation.

Around his waist was a decorative piece adorned with eagle feathers, and he carried a short wooden staff carved in the shape of a bald eagle’s head, from which a single feather hung.

For Deputee, feathers mean strength and provide protection.

“Feathers are very important,” he said. “I’m 72, but once I put it on, I’m ready to rock and roll. … All this strength is coming back to me, you know, so I’m ready to go out there and do some boogie woogie.

Comanche Nation member Bill Voelker describes powwows differently: more spectacular than spiritual, with feathers purchased online including eagle parts that can cost hundreds of dollars.

Not all powwows offer cash prizes.

A “killing” in Montana

In the ongoing Montana poaching case, the defendant and his accomplices allegedly killed approximately 3,600 birds – including golden and bald eagles – in what one defendant called a “killing spree.” Prosecutors say the killings began in 2009 and continued into 2021 on the Flathead Reservation, home of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

Such investigations are resource-intensive and can take years, Grace said. That’s difficult to maintain for an agency averaging about three law enforcement officers per state.

The case involving 150 eagle carcasses spread across several states and included two South Dakota pawn shops, with bird parts bought and sold, including in Iowa, Montana, Nebraska and Nebraska. Wyoming.

“Almost all the information we receive about eagle trafficking comes from Native Americans, tribes and citizens,” Grace said. “And then we will look at that information and specifically go after the largest trafficking groups.”

Illegal shooting is a leading cause of eagle deaths, according to a recent government study. The ongoing case in Montana emerged from a region with some of the highest concentrations of eagles and other raptors in the western United States.

Online postings of people illegally selling eagle feathers are relatively easy to find on Internet marketplaces.

“The biggest atrocity in Indian Country today is the powwow, but no one will say it out loud because everyone is in it,” said Voelker, who runs a feather depot and raptor refuge approved by the tribe in southern Oklahoma.

Eagles on ice

Voelker’s is one of two non-federal feather depots in the United States. Most of the dead eagles, parts and feathers received by tribal members come from the Wildlife Service’s National Eagle Repository.

Inside the department’s warehouse-sized building, located in a nature preserve outside Denver, a wildlife technician recently removed a cold eagle carcass from a box.

He spread the wings, fanned the tail, examined the feathers, then methodically cut off the tail with a knife and cut off the wings and legs with a wood cutter. The pieces were placed in separate plastic bags to be packaged and mailed to tribal members across the United States.

The repository receives 3,500 dead bald and golden eagles each year from state wildlife agencies, avian rehabilitation facilities, zoos and other sources. He receives several thousand requests from tribal members each year for feathers, whole eagles and their parts.

Avian flu slowed down the processing of birds at the depot; every eagle must now be tested to prevent its spread.

The biggest delay concerns young golden eagles.

A dry-erase board in the processing area showed how demand far exceeded supply: 1,242 pending requests for whole immature golden eagles, with only 17 available. More than 600 requests for wings; 40 available. Nearly 450 queues requested; 17 available.

The repository is currently responding to requests for immature golden eagles made in 2013. Wait times for bald eagles or their parts can be up to two years.

Lilley, the Nakota member, said many of the feathers in his regalia were gifts to him or came from a dead eagle he found along a fence after it was apparently shot.

He also received a golden eagle from the government repository years after he requested one.

Lilley recalled his excitement when the package arrived with a whole bird on dry ice.

“I had to have someone show me how to pluck it, take the feathers out, the tail feathers, the talons, the head and things like that,” he said.

One of the bird’s legs is affixed to the small stick that Lilley uses during powwow dances. One wing is shaped like a fan.

“For a dancer, when you’re outside, it’s pretty hot, so it’s kind of like your air conditioning, that fan,” he said.

— By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press