Death of an Eagle, by Brookie Craig

Recently, I went to the Warm Springs reservation in Oregon and then
to the Federal Eagle Repository in Ashland Oregon.

You probably never heard of Nathan Jim, Jr. He was a Yakima Indian
who was arrested for illegal possession of Eagle Feathers and parts,
by the Feds a couple years ago. He languished in fed jail for 14
months awaiting trial and was finally put on probation for this
heinous crime. His lawyer appealed it under the new Religious Freedom
act which guarantees Native Americans the right to eagle feathers to
practice their religious ceremonies and again lost the appeal..He
killed himself fearing that (in his mind) it would mean that the feds
would rearrest him and sentence him to jail again.

This so moved his prosecuting US Attorney that he grabbed a bundle of
eagle feathers at the Fed Eagle Repository (yes..our tax dollars at
work) and drove to the reservation so they can use them for Nathan's
spirit sending ceremony (burial) but arrived too late so Nathan
didn't even get a feather in death.

I decided to continue the challenge to the Feds and drove to Ashland
Oregon where they keep dead Eagles (yes..its true they have a Eagle
repository there) and with much dread and fear (we NA do not TRUST
the feds, having felt their wrath many times in the past) and
trembled my way through the door fully expecting the worst. I was met
at the counter by a little old lady who is a volunteer there. While
holding my Bureau of Indian Affairs ID card in one hand and my
Cherokee Tribal Registration card in the other, I tried to remember
my Ancestors who would want my voice to be strong and proud. I stood
a little taller and I said, "I want a Eagle Feather which is my right
under the Religious Freedom Act." I expected a lightning bolt to come
down but instead saw a gentle smile as she softly said, "Of course,"
walked over and handed me a a packet of federal forms to fill out
with instructions to send in to the Portland office of the US
department of Wildlife management.

I smiled as I read that I will have to have signed references from
another Elder and Verification from the Bureau of Indian Affairs AND
my Tribe to prove that I am, indeed a REAL Indian. References even
for a Eagle Feather.

She asks..."Do you want a Bald or a Golden Eagle?" CHOICES!?!? I'm
not prepared..."Do you want just a wing..or talons..or the head...or
the whole eagle?" WHAT?!?!?! I come in expecting to be arrested for
asking for ONE feather and they're offering me the WHOLE bird!?! I am
confused by the offer and She sees that I'm unprepared for them
offering me choices of parts of this sacred bird and smiles her
suggestion that perhaps I might want to look at the drawings of the
parts of the bird, circle what I want and include it with the
forms...I am defeated instantly by her gentleness.

I ask her how they send an Eagle to me and she replies through the
U.S. Mail..THE MAIL!?! I cannot envision receiving a dead Eagle
through the mail and smile at the thought that I might owe postage
due upon receipt.

Walking out the door I turn my head and see a stuffed Eagle, sitting
silently perched proudly, in a glass cage, on display in the main
lobby and overwhelming sadness fills my heart as I realize that
another Eagle fell from the sky...a man, also fearful but who stood
up for his beliefs, who will never be remembered by anyone for a
cause that no one really cares about I guess...and the thought of his
falling in vain fills me with a sense of profound grief, for our
People believe that the Eagle is the sacred Messenger who brings the
messages from our Creator...The thought hits me that no one will hear
that message for the Eagle plunged to Mother Earth and perhaps
mankind might have had a chance to have heard something sacred, but
now...will never know.

There is something terribly tragic in that. I hope someone hears this
message and cares about Nathan Jim, Jr. and the Eagle who fell from
the sky.

There is something inherently evil in the system of a country, that
was founded by people escaping religious persecution, that fills it's
citizens with such fear that they kill themselves over what they
consider to be a basic right of religious freedom.