The Navajo House Blessing Ceremony

Today, I thought I would describe one of the many ceremonies I continue to read about, The Navajo House Blessing Ceremony. In the Navajo faith, the first man and first woman came from the underworld to the fifth world (our world, on the surface of the earth). They created the first human man and woman. This couple was told by First Man that while the first man and woman were the source of life they would never return to the fifth world. The First Man put the fifth world woman and man in his medicine bundle and created the first Hogan (the traditional Navajo dwelling). The First Man taught the fifth world first man and woman that each new Hogan must be blessed.

The Navajo House Blessing Ceremony was given to the surface people by the underworld or holy people to prevent misfortune, evil from manifesting and any property damage. Ceremonies can privately be conducted for a home or publicly be conducted for schools and hospitals. They can last anywhere from one to four days. The ceremony involves marking the house, praying, and the public ceremony can employ the use of dance, sand painting, and formal ceremonial dress (feathers included).

The purpose of a ritual like this comes from the belief that a Navajo house is a living entity that needs to be loved and taken care.

Source Paper: http://www.jammed.com/~mlb/hogan.html

CG

Is the Wait Fair?

As I continue to do research, it has become apparent that the one of the reasons people raise questions about the sufficiency of repositories is because of the long wait. With 6000 applicants on a waiting list and only so many birds, the wait can be arduous and rub those forced to wait the wrong way.

While I sympathize with American Indian forced to wait three years to perform a sacred ceremony, the fact remains. While Bald Eagle populations have risen in recent years, at one time they faced the great possibility of extinction. Without the repository program, there could be that 6000 person waitlist and zero birds due to extinction.

Lee Plenty Wolf, a member of the Oglala Sioux tribe in Fort Collins, Colo, waited three years to receive a bald eagle. He had this to say, “More and more of our young people are going back to our spiritual way of life and we can’t do our ceremonies without the eagles”

Mr. Wolf explains it perfectly. A revival of Native American ceremonial traditions creates an enormous demand and there just is not enough eagles to go around.

If we allowed anyone with a gun to obtain eagle permits or even just gave any Native American registered tribe member permit access, Bald eagles and Golden eagles would no doubt face extinction again.

Adjustments to current laws could help. Current federal laws forbid anyone who finds a dead eagle from taking them. Perhaps creating a channel where those that find dead birds can then apply for a permit to keep it; however, that could just open the doors for killing birds and claiming you found them dead.

Ms. Atencio who operates the National Feather Repository warehouse simply said “It’s a double-edged sword. To fill all the requests in a timely manner means we need more dead birds.”

Source Article for Quotes:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/05/us/a-repository-for-eagles-finds-itself-in-demand.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0


CG

So You Want a Migratory Bird...

SO YOU WANT A MIGRATORY BIRD…

Step 1: 

Obtain a permit application from either repository (Comanche Nation Ethno-Ornithological initiative (SIA) or Liberty Wildlife Rehabilitation Foundation), your regional Migratory Bird Permit Office, or from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southwest Region Native American Liaison.

Step 2: 

In this application, make sure to include a certification of tribal enrollment from the Bureau of Indian Affairs of Tribal Enrollment Office.

Step 3:

 Indicate on your application what species of bird you are requesting and what parts, feathers or carcasses you desire.

Step 4: 

Now like with the National Eagle Repository, you are placed on a waiting list until the right bird can delivered to the address provided on your application.

According to the non-eagle repository websites, the list is on a first come first serve basis and they do not give an approximate wait time assuming because it greatly varies from what is available and what is being asked for. Seasons also tend to affect what is available (they are migratory birds, of course).

Link to Application:  http://www.non-eaglefeathers.net/pdf/NEF_form_3.6.pdf

CG

So You Want an Eagle...

In the 1970’s the National Eagle Repository was located in Pocatello, Idaho and in the 80’s it was operated out of a forensic lab in Ashland, Oregon. The National Eagle Repository of today in Denver, Colorado came about President Clinton signed an executive memorandum in 1994 after meeting with 300 tribal leaders reforming the repository and moving it to Denver. The National Eagle Repository remains the only source for feathers and parts of eagles. In a pilot program starting in 2010, two non-eagle feather repositories were created: one in Scottsdale at Liberty Wildlife and one in Cyril, Oklahoma at the Comanche Nation Ethno-Ornithological initiative (SIA). These provide feathers and parts of birds that are protected under the Migratory Bird Act, but are not eagles, relieving pressure off of the Denver operation.

SO YOU WANT AN EAGLE...  

Step 1:

Submit a Permit Application and First Order request and a certificate of Enrollment in a Federally Recognized Tribe (Form 3-200-15A) to the Regional Migratory Bird Permit Office of the State you live in.

In order to fill those out, you will need a tribal enrollment number and an official of you tribe certifying that you are who you say you are.

Step 2:

The Permit office of your State will approve or deny your claim.

Step 3:

You will be issued a permit to “possess for religious purposes eagle carcasses or parts (including feathers) provided by the Repository.”

Step 4:

Your application will be sent to the National Feather Repository and you will be placed on a waiting list.

Step 5:

Now for the waiting game. Depending on what you order, you may have to wait years. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, below is the approximate waiting time.

Whole immature golden eagles--- Approximately 5 years

Whole adult golden eagles--- Approximately 4½ years

Whole adult and immature bald eagles--- Approximately 2½ years

Whole tail only – golden eagle--- Approximately 4 ½ - 5

Whole tail only – bald eagle--- Approximately 2 – 2 ½ years

Pair of eagle wings--- Approximately 1 year

10 loose quality feathers--- Approximately 6 months

20 miscellaneous feathers--- Approximately 3 months

Trunks only--- On receipt of request

Head only--- On receipt of request

Talons only--- On receipt of request

Link to Application: http://www.fws.gov/forms/3-200-15a.pdf

CG

The Court and Repositories

The difficultly with feather repositories and their resulting laws comes into play when someone gets arrested for obtaining or possessing migratory or eagle feathers and cries religious rights to their defense.

Some court cases are relatively straight forward like in the case of United States vs. Moon Lake Electric Association Incorporated. On June 9, 1998, the United States charged Moon Lake for the electrocution death of 12 golden eagles, 4 ferruginous hawks and 1 great horned owl. Moon Lake violated the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection act seven times and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act six times. Moon Lake claimed that both acts do not apply to involuntary killings of protected species and that the acts only refer to the physical taking of birds through hunting. The government claimed that if Moon Lake had installed inexpensive extra equipment on to the power poles then 38 birds of prey would not have been injured in a 29 month period. Moon Lake was found guilty and charged a $100,000 fine and entered a Memorandum of Understanding (a promise to try to prevent future bird deaths) with the US Fish and Wildlife Services.

Other defendants rely on the religious argument despite not having Native American heritage causing problems for the courts. In March 2011, the US Court of Appeals 10^th Circuit heard Samuel Ray Wilgus who was arrested for possessing 141 feathers of bald and golden eagle feathers. Wilgus was not Native American but had lived with members of the Southern Paiute Nation and had received training in spiritual practices. The court ruled that while Wilgus, who appeared to genuinely have been converted from baptism in youth to Native American spiritualism in adulthood, only those who are legal members of registered tribes can possess feathers with the appropriate permits. Even if some of his feather were given to him as gifts from Native Americans.

Draper from The Denver Post writes“The Appeals Court said that Congress, as a consequence of the forcible seizure of Indian lands by the U.S., could give special treatment to sovereign tribal entities, not as a function of their race or of Native American spritual (sic) traditions, but because of their tribal or political identity.”

Read more: Court overturns case that allowed non-Indians to possess eagle feathers - The Denver Posthttp://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_17728167#ixzz2N9qNSYfA

Thus it appears that to the courts because of the limited number of available feathers and the overwhelming need to protect these species religious rights may not entirely be the reason for repositories at all.

CG

Classifying Different Types of Feathers

Believe it or not, each feather on a bird has a specific number and name. This is particularly useful for feather repositories, so that they can sort what feathers each tribe has requested. When looking at a bird wing, primaries and secondaries are the most visible and recognizable of the bird feathers. The primaries and secondaries are called remiges (feathers that aid in flight).

picture courtesy The Feather Atlas from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife  Service

There are usually ten primaries (sometimes nine in certain songbirds) and nine to twenty five secondaries depending on the length of the wing. Primaries are attached to the bones of the “hand” which consists of the metacarpals and digits fused together. Secondaries are attached to the ulna bone. All birds have a small group of stiff feathers attached to the pollex (the thumb bone) called the alula. The alula aids the bird in lift and maneuverability during flight.

picture courtesy J. Arthur Thomson in Outlines of Zoology

As I said before, each feather has its own number. The inner most primary feather is called primary 1 and onward to the 10^th primary at the tip of the wing. Secondary 1 is the outermost secondary and the rest of the secondaries are numbered from the outermost inwards. I suggest you look at the diagram J

picture courtesy AZParrots.com

Coverts are the feathers that cover the base of the flight feathers. Tertials or tertiary feathers are the innermost flight feathers of the wing and attach to the humerus bone of the bird. There are usually three or four tertials.

Now my challenge to you is to identify the feathers from the pictures of the flicker wing in my last post!

CG

P.S. After a long day of pricking scary, but beautiful birds of prey with needles, its rather nice to feed some harmless baby bunnies (We have six at Liberty now) XOXO

A Peek into Daily life at Liberty Part 2

Medical Service volunteers other jobs include giving the daily medication of all animals in the ICU. This curve billed thrasher was pretty mad about the oral injection of antibiotics he received. We also monitor the weights of emaciated animals. This thrasher is weighed every day and if he is not gaining weight we force feed him. This sounds harsh, but once he starts gaining weight, his appetite will pick up, giving him the best chance for survival. If you are wondering how we possibly weigh this feisty little guy...well a burrito wrap of course! ↓

Bigger birds like the osprey below require a partner and gloves or a well-placed towel. One volunteer holds the legs of the bird firmly and stays vigilant so that no person goes to close to 1.) the talons and 2.) the beak. This osprey was particularly difficult because of his enormous wingspan, so my hand was unable to keep the wings folded, thus I used my arm (not necessarily recommended). The other volunteer performs the assessment, gives the medicine, force feeds or wraps a wing or foot. Whatever needs to be done.

Or in the case of this California condor, three volunteers were required: 1.) Talon duty 2.) Beak duty 3.) Medical procedures.

In the unfortunate event that a bird for whatever reason does not survive, the feather repository steps in. This flicker wing with beautiful orange feather will go to a tribe that has requested them. Flicker feathers are prized by medicine men used in healing ceremonies.

CG