Has modern regalia lost all meaning?

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How many dead birds does it take to win a traditional dance championship? Or to be more specific, how many eagle feathers are needed to make a double bustle? And what about a triple bustle complete with a stuffed eagle's head stuck in the centre, or if you're a 'Real Brave', a mega-bustle all decked out with holograms and flashing red Christmas lights.

The ancestors must be rolling over in their graves, because an eagle feather is supposed to be a sacred object, isn't it, something to be earned?

In the past few decades, a rising interest in North American Plains culture has resurrected competition powwows on an extraordinary scale, bringing with it a huge demand for feathers.

What does this mean for the future of our sacred birds of prey population?

Historically speaking, dancers can learn to recreate more authentic looking regalia from examining painted bison robes, early black and white photographs and paintings by artists such as Carl Brodemer and George Catlin.

Dancers of the early 1800s did not wear much more than their loincloths and moccasins and possessed very few feathers. The main focus was on form and the story being danced out, either a battle scene, hunting scenario or the imitation of a bird or animal for spiritual purposes.

Today, many modern dancers are wearing flashy, cliche-ridden costumes that bring to mind the excesses of Hollywood movies and are no more authentic than a plastic tomahawk.

The same tacky trend seems to have overtaken our ancient sacred Prairie Chicken Dance, men in tights wearing big brass bells, huge porcupine hair roaches and a great number of feathers.

Whatever happened to the quilled buckskin warshirts, fringed leggings and the loincloth?

At one time feathers and regalia represented warrior societies within various tribal groups such as the Dog Soldier Society. An elite group of warriors, the Dogs wore their feathered hats depicting their status as the bravest of the brave, men who pinned their sashes to the earth and stood their ground in battle, even to the death.

Originally made from up to a thousand feathers collected from the crows, ravens and magpies who fed upon the flesh of the fallen warriors, many of today's feathered hats have lost their original flavor and spiritual meaning.

Have the pressures of judging in modern competition powwows left us with regalia that is more flash than substance?

Has powwow dancing become more theatrical than technical, with great form lost to mere show, dazzle and display? Only one thing is for certain in these confusing days of modern 'pop-Indian' culture. A big flashy bustle may win first prize with the judges but not score a lot of points with the Elders or the ancestors.