Fingers point to Aboriginal community

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With the recent slaughter of 50 bald eagles on the southwest coast of B.C. for the purposes of illegal trade, speculation is rising about who is to blame for the creation of the black market in eagle parts.

There has been worldwide interest in the B.C. eagle killings, and despite the horror and condemnation expressed by First Nation communities, media attention has largely focused on Native people as the culprits.

Native people place a high value on the eagle as a spiritual and cultural symbol and in the belief system of traditional Native people, the sacred bird flies closest to the Creator and carries prayers to the heavens. In many Native cultures, the eagle feather worn in ceremony represents a life taken in battle.

Conservation officers in British Columbia have identified a First Nation man from the province's interior as being involved in trafficking in the eagle parts. B.C. officials estimate that some 500 eagles are killed every year in the province for trade on the black market. In 2001, another B.C. First Nation man, was convicted of smuggling and selling eagle feathers in the United States.

And British Columbia is not alone in dealing with this problem. Fish and Wildlife officers in the Wetaskiwin, Alta. area, arrested three people for trafficking in eagle parts in late January. Some of the feathers were used in Native artwork and regalia sold in the Hobbema and Wetaskiwin areas.

Some media pundits are pointing fingers as the competitive powwow circuit, with prize money totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, saying the lucrative purses are fueling the black market.

A Time magazine reporter has stated that the competitions offer "rich prizes" for the eagle-feather adorned regalia, and that the wait for eagle feathers through legitimate means can be up to four years in the United States, opening the door for illegal trade.

According to Boye Ladd, a veteran powwow dancer from the Ho-Chunk Nation in Wisconsin, there are rumors that some casino powwows in California will have three- or four-million dollar purses this year. Ladd confirmed that regalia is an important part of the competition, worth half of the total marks for faster, contemporary dances, and up to 80 per cent for the slower, traditional dances.

Tyrone Tootoosis, a Poundmaker First Nation member and leader of the Great Plains Dance Troupe that performed at the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards gala in Saskatoon in March, agrees that regalia is important to a powwow competition.

"I don't think you'd find too many people to say that your regalia doesn't matter. Your regalia can really assist in attracting the judge's eye in contest," said Tootoosis.

But despite the big purses being offered in the United States today, Tootoosis and Ladd said the powwow circuit isn't all that lucrative.

"When you talk about the powwow circuit, nobody gets rich off of it ... There's a lot of work involved in being a singer or a dancer, and to be good at it, it calls for a lot of sacrifice, for a lot of things and a lot of travel," added Tootoosis.

Ladd, who is one of the first people to make a living as a professional powwow dancer, has seen the prize money go up from $25 in the late 1950s to $3,000 today. But that's still barely enough to cover the cost of travelling and the regalia, which alone can be worth anywhere from two- to ten-thousand dollars, he explained. For that reason, Ladd conceded that prize money is important to the powwow dancers.

"I can see the point and I try to understand it. This is 2005 and compared to back in 1958 there's a big, big difference. I mean you look at the regalia ... nothing in the history of powwow or in my lifetime will match what I see today."

Ladd said money has affected the spirit of powwow, especially in the big casino powwows in the United States.

"That was one of the reasons and I've stated many, many times why I came to Canada back in the late '70s was because the essnce of powwow, the spirit of powwow, is still very much alive in Canada. I mean, you look at the best music singing groups in the world all come from Canada. Look at all the world champions. They're all Canadian, the majority of them," said Ladd.

Ladd, also a regalia craftsman, believes that the black market in eagle parts and feathers is mostly an American problem, with a single stripped-down eagle worth $1,000 to $1,500. Ladd also said that bald eagle feathers are almost worthless for making powwow regalia. Because they are water birds, after a year the feathers get so brittle they break.

But with the growth of the powwow circuit in recent years, Ladd said he has noticed a growth in the use of eagle feathers, something that he doesn't believe is necessarily a good thing. Eagle feathers, he said, should be worn because a person earned that right.

"The feathers, especially [the ones] worn on top of the head, are usually reflective of a life taken in combat and so a lot of the warriors do have that right. People have to distinguish their differences between rights and privileges. When you look at culture and tradition, one just doesn't put something on because it looks pretty, but because it has a purpose and a meaning," said Ladd.

Tootoosis agreed. To him, an eagle feather is something earned, and that's why he suggested that this year's winners of the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards each receive an eagle feather. He prepared and donated the ones given out at the achievement award gala.

Bald eagles have recovered in most parts of North America and are thriving in B.C. and Alaska, but they remain a protected species and endangered in southern Ontario and some parts of the United States.

Michael O'Sullivan, the executive director of the Humane Society of Canada, said the black market trade in endangered animals is thriving. He quoted Interpol which estimates that the trade in endangered wildlife is among the top three illegally traded commodiies, along with drugs and weapons, and that the trade in endangered wildlife alone is worth $12 billion (CAN).

According to O'Sullivan, the going rate per eagle feather is $100 (US). He does not believe that the eagle feathers are necessarily going to Aboriginal people, stating that Asia has a huge market for wildlife.

"The upsurge, for example, in the demand for bear gall bladders has been huge in the last 10 years because there's been such a huge market in Asia that finally has a disposable income that can afford it. So it really is a question of supply and demand ... within wildlife traffickers and what their suppliers want, or the [consumers] want ... so no, I wouldn't confine it to the Aboriginal market," he said.

"Whoever it is, I just hope that they start learning a bit more about the Creator and having some Elders talk to them to learn what they should've done other than going into this mad spree of killing," said Squamish First Nation Chief Bill Williams. The bald eagle remains in British Columbia were found on Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish First Nation territories.

"It's just a horror," said Williams. "We have always had a gathering of eagles in our traditional territory, anywhere from two to five thousand eagles every winter, and for somebody to go around and killing them for the feathers, I mean it's just, they're sick whoever they are and they really need lots of help."