The traffic of these birds of prey is maintained by high demand, especially for their feathers that adorn the traditional outfits of the Amerindians.
For a year and a half, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent posed as an art and antiques collector and bought eagle feathers and limbs from Troy Fairbanks, a man based in South Dakota, USA. According to legal documents, he was building a case against the self-proclaimed "Midwestern feather specialist" for the sale of eagles and other protected birds.
On February 3, 2016, Troy Fairbanks invited the agent to his home to present him with the latest to sell: eagle wings, wooden sticks topped with severed eagle heads, eagle talons, and headdresses covered with eagle feathers, similar to those worn by Native Americans during ritual ceremonies. The agent pays more than $800 for the purchase of several coins.
At the end of April 2017, the US Department of Justice announced that it had indicted the "feather specialist", also a member of the Standing Rock and Lower Brule Sioux tribes and owner of a Native American dance company called the "Buffalo Dreamers". He is charged with wildlife trafficking, among other violations of federal laws, and faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and a fine of more than two million dollars (the equivalent of 1,695,840 euros). According to the indictment, Troy Fairbanks had sold multiple pieces of eagles worth several thousand dollars to the agent, including an eagle's head (at $250, or €211), a pair of wings (at $600 or €508), and a tribal headdress made of bird feathers (amounting to $1,000 or €847), in addition to some black bear claws.
Dubbed "Project Dakota Flyer," the undercover operation orchestrated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the latest in a series of investigations into the black market for eagle parts that has unfolded across North America and beyond. Troy Fairbanks is just one of fifteen defendants accused of breaking laws to protect bald eagles, golden eagles, and other migratory birds from poaching and exploitation.
The accused declined to comment through his lawyer, Terry Pechota.
"This is pure greed. They are trading eagles to make money," says Steven Oberholtzer, a special law enforcement officer for eight U.S. States in The Rocky Mountains and High Plains. The case has lifted the veil on a trade that could affect the recovery of bald eagles, the national symbol of the United States, and accelerate the decline in the number of golden eagles, one of the country's most spectacular Raptors.
Bald eagles thrive in the wild and intensive management of their population is conducted by the U.S. Department of the Interior, which is in charge of wilderness. According to estimates by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there were 140,000 in 2016, a 14% increase from 2007, when they last took their census.
The situation of golden eagles is more worrying since there are only about 40,000 of them in the wild. According to biologists, the population in the western United States is expected to continue to decline. Thousands of wind turbines (which are multiplying), power lines, habitat loss, and lead poisoning covering hunters' ammunition that birds ingest in their foraging are their main threats. Poaching for the illegal feather trade adds to the pressure on golden eagles.
The extent of this illegal trade is unknown, but data from the Fish and Wildlife Service gives an indication: officers have documented nearly 90 violations involving the sale of eagles or eagle limbs contrary to the Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle Protection Act from 2006 to 2016. This law prohibits, among other things, the slaughter of birds and the purchase and possession of their limbs.
Although the service does not keep track of the number of eagles poached for the benefit of this flourishing trade, according to the authorities, the pieces offered by the accused of Operation Project Dakota Flyer alone come from a hundred eagles.
According to Steven Oberholtzer, the development of social media and other technological advances has made the eagle trade more sophisticated. He claims that many feathers and eagle limbs are used to make Native American outfits, which are then destined for art collectors in North America and Europe. Other parts are used by the tribesmen themselves. Native Americans have long revered eagles, which they incorporated into their outfits.
Under U.S. law, members of 566 federally recognized tribes can apply for a permit from the Fish and Wildlife Service to kill eagles in the wild. These permits are rarely issued. The first was granted in 2012 to the Arapaho tribe of northern Wyoming; It was the first time the service had given the tribe permission to hunt bald eagles. Native Americans can also apply for eagle coins from the state-run National Eagle Repository, the central office for eagle remains founded in 1974 to meet the needs of tribal communities.
However, demand for eagle coins consistently exceeds supply. Applicants can wait years to receive them; they lose patience and turn to the black market," says Harold Salway, responsible for Oglala Lakota County, located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
FLAUNTING YOUR FEATHERS
In an open-air stadium, five men dressed in red and blue outfits drag their feet and crouch to the beat of the drum. It's 10:45 p.m., and a cool breeze has settled in the summer air and gives a little respite to the hundred spectators present at this powwow in the Pine Ridge reserve. For competitors in the traditional male dance category, Crow Hop is their last chance to impress the jury. The lucky winner will pocket $200, a small sum compared to the thousands of dollars offered at other powwows.
"Jobs are scarce in the area," laments dancer Wesley New Holy, as he awaits the judges' deliberation outside the stadium. The 46-year-old father of six knows all too well the importance of these contests: Pine Ridge, which spans nearly 9,000 square kilometers in southwestern South Dakota, is one of the poorest regions in the country. Wesley New Holy, like many other dancers in the Oglala Lakota County, makes a living competing at powwows across the country.
Competition is a central element in the majority of powwows, which became popular after the move of thousands of Native Americans from the Great Plains region to cities like Denver and San Francisco was established as part of a U.S. Bureau of Native American Affairs program in 1950. This contributed to the rise of larger, flashy public powwows and fostered financial rewards. These events are economically vital for some communities.
Juries evaluate candidates not only on their way of dancing but also on their outfits. "We make sure we look alive, more alive than anyone else," says Wesley New Holy. White paint on his face covers his forehead and traces lines on his cheeks. He wears a fan made of white golden eagle feathers. Feathers adorn the important turn, it has on the back, and two other
That night, Wesley New Holy came in second place and won $150. Robert Two Bulls Jr., the contest's judging panel, says he looks at the outfit after first evaluating a dancer's form and energy. If in his eyes, eagle feathers can enhance an outfit, he prefers a traditional costume to a rowdy garment.
The dancer states that his eagle feathers were given to him by a tribal leader and that he wears them as their spiritual symbol. He has heard about the buying and selling of eagle feathers and limbs, something he disapproves of. "I would never have paid a single dollar for any of my feathers," he says. "I wear them with respect."
So did Jim Red Willow, a 69-year-old Oglala Lakota executive committee member. According to him, eagles have been considered sacred by the tribe for centuries. Their coins are used during ceremonies and offered during departures for war in particular. For Jim Red Willow, those who profit from eagles "do not know the symbol that eagle feathers represent. Stories about the place of the eagle in our history have been passed down from generation to generation." According to tradition, only eagles would be able to rise high enough to transmit the prayers of men to the Creator.
EAGLES IN THE BAG
Dennis Wiist pulls four plastic bags from a cardboard box and places them on a counter. Dressed in a white jumpsuit, a mask covering his face, and gloves to protect himself from any pathogens, he opens one of the bags and begins to inspect the corpse of the bald eagle inside.
"A lot of this bird's left wing is missing, which is not acceptable," he says, unfurling the eagle and its brown feathers spotted with white.
He raises the tail feathers to examine the whitest and largest feathers, much appreciated by Native American women. "The condition of this bird's feathers is very bad, some feathers are torn," he adds.
Dennis Wiist spends most of his time assessing the condition of birds that come to him, after a natural death, after being electrocuted by power lines, run over by cars, shot dead, or otherwise. He is one of four employees at the facility nestled within the Rocky Mountain National Wildlife Refuge on the outskirts of Denver.
This repository was established in 1974 in Pocatello, Idaho, after a clause in the Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle Protection Act allowed licensed tribal members to gain legal access to new birds on religious grounds. In 1994, Bill Clinton signed an executive order to facilitate the receipt of eagle coins after speaking with Native Americans unhappy with the lack of supplies.
This order directed federal wildlife agencies to send eagle carcasses to the depot. The remains also come from state agencies, ordinary citizens, eagle keepers, etc. Last year, the facility received nearly 2,800 dead birds. Each week, Dennis Wiist and another specialist review and write reports on the condition of about 75 eagles.
To obtain eagle remains, Amerindians must fill out a form in which they specify the member of the raptor they wish to receive as well as the species chosen: the bald eagle or the golden eagle. When chosen to receive a feather or eagle limb, the goods are packaged and shipped to the applicant. Nearly 4,000 Native Americans applied for eagle coins last year.
The depot receives more requests for golden eagles than for bald eagles, which are more numerous. The most popular product: the mostly white tail middle feathers of a young golden eagle, in high demand because of their symmetry and the clean line where white gives way to a brown tip. The demand for these feathers is such that applicants can wait up to six months before receiving them. The wait for a golden eagle's tailor for a whole carcass can be five years. "Typically, we don't have the resources and it takes some time to put all these pieces together and pull out the feathers we need," says the depot employee.
"I feel like I'm begging for these feathers when I go to the depot," Wesley New Holy laments. He has been waiting for a pair of wings for almost two years.
SELF-MANAGED AVIARIES
Tribal Chief Harold Salway is fed up with the interminable delays. According to him, "it is not up to the federal government to regulate the use of feathers. This regulation should be done within the tribes."
Jim Red Willow also wants the tribes to be consulted more during the process. He envisioned the appointment of a group of tribal members who would prioritize eagle receivers. In this way, only "people with spiritual functions" would be eligible and not those "only on the market to make turns and headdresses and then sell them". He adds: "A check is obviously necessary to know to whom the eagle feathers return."
In 2014, Kathryn Kovacs, a senior professor at Rutgers University School of Law, wrote an article about it. According to her, the unmet demands of Native Americans under the current system exacerbate the poaching and trafficking of eagles. She suggested that entire tribes, rather than individuals, apply to the depot and then determine how the eagle coins would be distributed among their members.
Some tribes have already taken up the task. Seven of them, including the Pueblo of Zuni and the Oklahoma Iowas, have received permits from the Fish and Wildlife Service to set up aviaries to accommodate injured eagles, an important source of feathers since birds molt once a year.
Five years ago, the Navajo of Arizona installed an aviary after "realizing long ago that eagles were captured for their feathers or limbs," says David Mikesic, the aviary's manager. "We realized that some people were trying to get feathers or limbs illegally." He explains that some eagles collected in the aviary had been injured and remembers cases of dead eagles whose feathers had been removed and found by the side of the road.
The aviary is now home to nine golden eagles, But the feathers of their tails are so in demand that a waiting list of a hundred names had to be established here too. According to the official, the aviary has been beneficial to birds as well as feather seekers.
Going back to the accused in Operation Dakota Flyer, nothing in their indictments seems to have a spiritual aspect. According to Randy Seiler, a local prosecutor in the state of South Dakota, the eagle pieces had been stacked in trunks, garbage bags, and coolers. Prices had been haggled over and an offer to hunt eagles had even been made.
The trial of Troy Fairbanks will take place in November, while those of the other 14 defendants will begin this fall. Fifty other people could also be convicted.
https://www.nationalgeographic.fr/animaux/2017/08/etats-unis-les-aigles-royaux-sont-massacres-pour-leurs-plumes
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