From: BROOKIE CRAIG (BTRU93A@prodigy.com)
Subject: Death of an Eagle
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 l4
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.
PS 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.