Indians want probe into feathers

| Monday, August 02, 2004

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Tribal authorities worried that sacred objects are being used illegally.

By Jomay Steen, Journal Staff Writer

ROSEBUD — The Rosebud tribal administration has asked the U.S. Attorney's Office to investigate issues concerning possession of eagle feathers and parts by people who are not American Indians as part of a sun dance ceremony.

On Monday, Rosebud President Charles C. Colombe asked the U.S. Attorney's Office in Pierre to look into the various issues of illegal possession of eagle feathers after receiving letters and complaints of the activity from Rosebud tribal members.

Allegations that non-Indian sun dancers had eagle feathers and were using them as part of a Lakota religious ceremony surfaced after a recent sun dance near Mission on the Rosebud Indian Reservation.

Colombe, 66, said the issue should be treated with great respect and regard toward those who participate in sun dances.

"We do not want any ceremonial grounds invaded and rangers shaking people down," he said.

The tribal president met with council members and a few tribal leaders about the allegations and how best to approach the problem.

"There are issues there, and there are religious considerations," he said. "We all agreed that we need to be very, very respectful."

Religious or not, Tim Cournoyer, director of natural resources on Rosebud, said no one may possess the feathers or parts of any migratory birds, with one exception.

"It's a right specifically for Native Americans," Cournoyer said.

The natural resources officer said that although federal law prohibits non-Indians from possessing eagle feathers, there are no tribal laws or policies that direct the tribal resource rangers on how to proceed. A task force should be set up to establish procedures, he said.

"There are a lot of emotional ties connected to this issue, and we are caught in the middle," he said.

On July 23, tribal members Alfred Bone Shirt, Homer Whirlwind Soldier, Claudette Arcorn, Ned Metcalf and Sam Wounded Head contacted superintendent Jo Ann Young, citing the Eagle Protection and the Migratory Bird acts, which prohibit all people from possessing feathers and parts of migratory birds. They alleged that members of a German group of sun dance participants were using eagle feathers, eagle-bone whistle and other eagle parts that are considered sacred by the Lakota.

According to Bone Shirt, Young contacted Elmer Four Dance at the Bureau of Indian Affairs segional office in Aberdeen. With Four Dance's approval, she instructed Cournoyer to attend the Hollow Horn Bear sun dance, he said.

The rangers did not go to sun dance, but it touched off a debate of who may and may not possess eagle feathers while at a Lakota religious ceremony.

"Medicine men do not have the authority to give eagle feathers to non-Indians," Bone Shirt said. "They are not above the law."

Bob Prieksat, resident agent in charge for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Pierre, agreed.

"The only people who can legally possess or use eagle feathers or parts are enrolled members of a federally recognized tribe," Prieksat said.

"There's an exception to the law carved out for Indians, and that's where the standard comes into play," Prieksat said.

The standard is that an Indian would have to be an enrolled member of one of the 525 federally recognized tribes in the United States, he said.

Prieksat investigated a similar incident two years ago on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. An Indian family had hosted a commercial sun dance, selling opportunities to foreigners to participate in the Lakota ceremony, and eagle feathers were included in the package.

No arrests were made, but Prieksat said he has heard more allegations over the years and from those filing complaints.

"I don't doubt that this is going on," he said.

Prieksat emphasized that possession of eagle feathers, eagle-bone whistles, eagle staffs, war bonnets and other eagle parts is strictly prohibited. No medicine man or healer may legally grant authority to own such aviary treasures as gifts or merchandise, he said.

As for using them as relics to express religious freedom, don't count on it.

"You're going to have to make that claim as you're paying your defense lawyer," Prieksat said.

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com.