I stopped at a gas station called the 59er, situated just on the outskirts of Winnipeg. I saw an Eagle Feather attached to the wall. It made me curious as the story behind the Feather on this non-Native establishment. I asked the lady who was the owner and she said (deceased) Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Grand Chief Rod Bushie had given it to her. Rod was a frequent customer of the gas station and decided to give it to the Lady. I have seen a few Eagle Feathers at different places, which were not connected to Natives. At a business where they engrave grave-stones, an Eagle feather was on a window sill. I asked the owner about it. She had found out in the country by her property. I resisted the urge to ask her for the feather. I was in Mahnomen Minnesota a number of years ago. My Dad and brother were still living at the time. Two of my brothers and I had taken my Dad to the casino, Shooting Star. While there I took a drive to a car wrecker yard. I was looking for a vehicle license plate for my brother, Pancho. Pancho collected license plates and tacked them up on his shed. At the wrecker I bought a license plate for ten bucks. Behind the cashier a few Eagle Feathers were hanging up. I asked the white guy behind the till where he got those Feathers from. It is against the law in the United States for white people to have Eagle Feathers, or at least that's my understanding. He told me he finds them in the cars. When cars either get wrecked or however the cars end up in the yard, he finds them.
I have some Eagle Feathers. I danced Sundance and participated as a Helper for many years. Still I have to ask, "What did I do to get those Feathers?" When I was growing up in the Reserve, the 1960's 1970's, I never saw an Eagle Feather anywhere. People really didn't have them in their possession or their homes. The only Feathers I saw were with Chief of our Reserve, Mr. Dave Courchene. The Eagle Feather has come back to our Reserve and to many other Reserves and people. I see them. It is really good to see. There are some folks who are upset and say "they didn't earn those Feathers." For sure this is a sentiment and could have some merit in the criticism. Still who am I to critique the ownership of an Eagle Feather.
I have given away Eagle Feathers that I have acquired. In fact I have even given away the Eagle Bustle and an Eagle Headdress. I got those from my friends from the North of our province, Manitoba. Whether I had the Right or gave those Feathers or Bustles to someone worthy is another story. Growing up, we did not see Eagles in the South. The Eagle was not to be seen in our community for many years, in my youth. I think it was when the DDT was in full use. DDT was a widely used pesticide in the early century and lot of it was used in the 1960s. The effect of DDT was far reaching and devastating to the bird population, especially birds of prey, like the Eagle. DDT caused a high death rate in the Eagle population. Seeing an Eagle was a rarity. Even rarer is the Golden Eagle Feather. Golden Eagles are pretty rare to see. Seeing an Eagle is considered a Blessing for many an Indian. Social media has numerous posts by Indians haven seen an Eagle or two.
I was a post-secondary Powwow a number of years ago. The Powwow was honoring graduating Indigenous students. At the honoring, each Indigenous student was presented an Eagle Feather. Honor indeed. The Indigenous Students achieved something many other Indigenous people have not, they met the challenges of the White system and succeeded in getting certificates and degrees. Not an easy feat in a system that once denied them. I would agree those Indigenous people earned their Feathers. I think there are many in today's society who should be recognized. Then again, there are many different opinions of who gets to hold a Feather. Years ago at our Reserve, the Chief was getting a Headdress bestowed onto him by the community. I was standing close to this older guy, and he is Traditional (Traditional is a title to describe people who live by the Indigenous Teachings). This guy started saying those people "shouldn't be giving the Chief a Headdress, he doesn't even know what it signifies, and didn't earn it." In his defense this guy is a pure Arsehole and doesn't have much positive things to say about anything or anyone in the Reserve. I didn't think much of it at the time, when he made those remarks.
My daughter takes part in this club, it is called the Butterfly Club. It is hosted and sponsored by Ka Ni Kanichihk, a social organization which supports Indigenous Women who suffered from trauma. The Butterfly Club provides Elders, Teachers, activities for young girls/women in efforts for positive learning related to Indigenous Teachings and practices. It is something that we appreciate. The program is lead by Young Women. The Leaders of this program have come and gone as there are other more lucrative or better opportunities out there. It is great when this young leaders are able to stay for a period of time and establish relations with the young participants. I wanted to honor the two young leaders so my Girl and I gave them a couple of Walking Sticks, which me and my Girl make. I wanted the Young Women Leaders to know we appreciate them. A few days later I was thinking about how they look after the young girls and how my Girl gets to enjoy activities like Sweat Lodge Ceremony, making drums, listening to Teachings, etc. I have some Eagle Feathers which I received from an Elder friend of mine. The Feathers are a mix of small ones and some flight feathers. I got a few Feathers from this White guy I met a while back. He lives in British Columbia and finds Feathers on his property. It was the first time meeting him and I asked him to bring Feathers next time he came to Manitoba. Turns out he did what I asked him. Anyways, I decided to Honor these Young Women Leaders with an Eagle Feather each. I told them to dress up those Feathers and don't let them sit around. I feel they earned the Right to carry a Feather.
We have some many cliches; "the future is our youth, Women are the life-givers, We must protect our children, young people are gifts, young ones are not given to us-just lent to us," and so many more sayings. Lot of it is bullshit. We adore the baby of course, we love the women. In reality we, society that is, just plays so much big-lip service to the Youth and the Women. People who are employed as Teachers, Day-care attendants, nurses, are not valued. It is really funny (in a very sad way), when the Pandemic-COVID had people on lock-down, politicians and corporations were praising the front line workers as "The Heroes." Don't hear any of those praises no longer. Those people, the youth working in the care industry, those Women working in the care industry earn those Eagle Feathers. Very few will ever be honored, be recognized for their achievements, their work, their worth. Never mind ever be bestowed an Eagle Feather.
“The Eagle Feather is one of the highest honours that an Indigenous person can bestow on someone doing something great,” said local Indigenous leader Myeengun Henry. “The Eagle is the highest flying bird, the one closest to the Creator, which brings messages back to us on earth. The Eagle is very significant in Indigenous culture.”
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