Possession of Eagle Feathers

Members in the NEWS: "Jonathan Reyman, curator of anthropology at the Illinois State Museum in Springfield, was featured in a short news item June 3, 2006, in The (Decatur, Ill.) Herald & Review. 'American Indian traditions helped by Scovill Zoo eagles' details a project, founded by Reyman, that collects feathers shed by bald eagles and macaws at the zoo in Decatur; those feathers are then forwarded to Zuni Pueblo and Sandia Pueblo Indians in New Mexico and Arizona via the National Eagle and Wildlife Property Repository in Colorado. The feathers are considered sacred objects by the tribes and used in making ceremonial headdresses and fans. 'It has been part of their religious tradition for more than a thousand years and are used to decorate clothing and ritual objects,' Reyman was quoted as saying. While federal law prohibits the possession of eagle feathers or parts, an exemption exists for tribal members who keep them for sacred and religious purposes."