BILLINGS, Mont. \u2014 America\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 \u2014 from poisonings, climate change and wind turbines that kill eagles in collisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An investigation centered around a Montana Indian reservation recently landed its first conviction \u2014 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another investigation involving undercover agents recovered 150 golden and bald eagles<\/a> over the past decade, with 35 defendants charged and 31 sentenced for wildlife violations, according to court records and federal officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 \u201cabsolutely wrong\u201d but sympathized with tribal members who don\u2019t want to wait years for eagle parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eagle feathers are woven into Native American culture. Beyond powwow regalia, they\u2019re presented to high school graduates, used in marriage ceremonies and buried with the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s unable to meet demand for eagle wings, tails and whole birds, even as powwows become more elaborate and competitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s left an opening for criminals to exploit Native Americans trying to keep traditions alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe 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,\u201d said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Chief of Law Enforcement Ed Grace. \u201cIf 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Women carried eagle feather fans. Men wore eagle feather headdresses that bounced back and forth as they danced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Deputee, the feathers signify strength and offer protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe feathers are very important,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m 72 years old, but once I put that on, I\u2019m ready to rock and roll. \u2026 All that strength comes back to me, you know, so I\u2019m ready to go out there and boogie woogie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not all powwows have cash prizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the pending Montana poaching case, the defendant and accomplices allegedly killed about 3,600 birds \u2014 including golden and bald eagles \u2014 during what one defendant called a \u201ckilling spree.\u201d<\/a> Prosecutors say the killings began in 2009 and continued until 2021 on the Flathead Reservation, home of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Such investigations are resource intensive and can take years, Grace said. That\u2019s difficult to sustain for an agency with about three law enforcement officers per state on average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlmost all the information we receive on eagle trafficking comes from Native Americans, comes from tribes, comes from public citizens,\u201d Grace said. \u201cAnd then we will look at that intell and specifically go after the larger trafficking groups.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Illegal shootings are a leading cause of eagle deaths, according to a recent government study<\/a>. The pending Montana case emerged from an area with some of the highest concentrations of eagles and other raptors in the U.S. West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Online posts from people selling eagle feathers illegally are relatively easy to find on internet marketplaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe biggest atrocity in Indian country today is the powwow but no one will say that out loud because everybody takes part,\u201d said Voelker, who operates a tribally sanctioned feather repository and raptor shelter in southern Oklahoma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n