Eagle feathers play a sacred role in powwows. Poachers are exploiting the high demand

America’s golden eagles face a rising threat from a black market for their feathers used in Native American powwows and other ceremonies

America's golden eagles face a rising threat from a black market for their feathers used in Native American powwows and other ceremonies, according to wildlife officials, researchers and tribal members.

The government’s response has been two-pronged: A crackdown on rings illegally trafficking dead eagles coupled with a longstanding program that lawfully distributes eagle feathers and parts to tribal members.

But that program has a yearslong backlog, and officials said illegal killings appear to be worsening, with young golden eagles in particular targeted because of high value placed on their white and black wing feathers. Golden eagles, which are federally protected but not considered endangered, already faced pressure — from poisonings, climate change and wind turbines that kill eagles in collisions.

An investigation centered around a Montana Indian reservation recently landed its first conviction — a Washington state man accused with others of killing thousands of birds including at least 118 bald and golden eagles and selling their parts in the U.S. and abroad.

He is scheduled to be sentenced to up to five years in prison Thursday in a case that offers a rare glimpse into the black market.

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

Perry Lilley, a member of the Nakota Tribe in northern Montana, attends numerous powwows a year and says he has been solicited to buy eagle feathers. He said illegal shootings were “absolutely wrong” but sympathized with tribal members who don’t want to wait years for eagle parts.

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

Exploiting Native traditions

A government repository in Colorado that provides dead eagles and their parts for free to tribal members keeps up with orders for individual feathers, such as for graduates. Yet it's unable to meet demand for eagle wings, tails and whole birds, even as powwows become more elaborate and competitive.

That's left an opening for criminals to exploit Native Americans trying to keep traditions alive.

“The amount of money that you can win in powwows has increased a lot in the last 10 years, which has increased some of the demand,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Chief of Law Enforcement Ed Grace. “If the price of feathers goes up, people ... become opportunistic, and see that you can make a lot of money in a relatively short period of time poaching eagles to provide for the feather trade.”

Eagle feathers were on full display at a recent powwow in Billings, where dozens of Native Americans adorned with feathers paraded into a university fieldhouse to kick off dancing competitions. Their feet moved to the beat of a drum, its rhythmic sounds interrupted periodically by high-pitched singing.

Women carried eagle feather fans. Men wore eagle feather headdresses that bounced back and forth as they danced.

Leading the procession was a man wielding a staff topped with an eagle head. Behind him among tribal elders was Kenneth Deputee, Sr., from the nearby Crow Indian Reservation.

Around his waist was a decorative piece strung with eagle feathers, and he carried a short wooden stick carved into a bald eagle head, a single feather hanging from it.

For Deputee, the feathers signify strength and offer protection.

“The feathers are very important,” he said. “I’m 72 years old, but once I put that on, I’m ready to rock and roll. … All that strength comes back to me, you know, so I’m ready to go out there and boogie woogie.”

Comanche Nation member Bill Voelker describes powwows differently: more spectacle than spiritual, with some feathers bought online where eagle parts can cost hundreds of dollars.

Not all powwows have cash prizes.

A ‘killing spree’ in Montana

In the pending Montana poaching case, the defendant and accomplices allegedly killed about 3,600 birds — including golden and bald eagles — during what one defendant called a “killing spree.” Prosecutors say the killings began in 2009 and continued until 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 sustain for an agency with about three law enforcement officers per state on average.

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

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

Illegal shootings are a leading cause of eagle deaths, according to a recent government study. The pending Montana case emerged from an area with some of the highest concentrations of eagles and other raptors in the U.S. West.

Online posts from people selling eagle feathers illegally are relatively easy to find on internet marketplaces.

"The biggest atrocity in Indian country today is the powwow but no one will say that out loud because everybody takes part,” said Voelker, who operates a tribally sanctioned feather repository and raptor shelter in southern Oklahoma.

Eagles on ice

Voelker’s is one of two non-federal feather repositories in the U.S. Most dead eagles, parts and feathers received by tribal members come from the wildlife service’s National Eagle Repository.

Inside the service's warehouse-sized building in a nature preserve outside Denver, a wildlife technician recently pulled 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 severed the wings and feet with a garden lopper. The pieces went into separate plastic bags to be packaged and mailed to tribal members across the U.S.

The repository receives 3,500 dead bald and golden eagles annually from state wildlife agencies, avian rehabilitation facilities, zoos and other sources. It gets several thousand requests annually from tribal members for feathers, entire eagles and their parts.

Avian flu has slowed processing the birds at the repository; each eagle must now be tested to prevent its spread.

The longest backlog of requests is for young golden eagles.

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

The repository is currently fulfilling requests for immature golden eagles made in 2013. Wait times for bald eagles or parts are up to two years.

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

He also received a golden eagle from the government repository years after applying for it.

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

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

One of the bird's feet is affixed to the short staff Lilley wields during powwow dances. A wing is fashioned into a fan.

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