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| The young eagle had a thirteen feather span in tail feathers, which were sought for Head dresses. The feathers were a sepia tone white with darker brown tips, twelve to fourteen inches in length. The wing feathers (pinion feathers) were used in a buffalo |
| horn bonnet amongst the Plains Indians. Single feathers were worn for Coups. The feathers worn in the hair denoted events, the warrior was parading his achievements. A Red dot signified a killing of an enemy. A solid red feather meant you were wounded in battle, etc. The first Coup was a feather stuck vertically in the hair while a second or multiple Coup was indicated by a horizontal feather. It took six eagles to make a well balanced headdress with several more to make a single tailed headdress and up to twelve birds to make the double trailed headdress. The feathers from Right side of eagle were always used on the right side of the head dress while the left side feathers went on the opposing side, that way the feathers were always “rounded side out." The Native American who wished to make this religious bonnet from these holy birds had to follow a strict ritual. He was not allowed to use a weapon of any nature, using a Stuffed Wolf or Coyote on top his covered over hole, and a piece of meat on a cord and the stuffed animal set so as to appear it was eating the meat. The Blackfoot preferred the bloody piece of the neck of a buffalo as it could be smelled a long way off. The Eagle would descend to yank the meat away from the stuffed Wolf, only to be caught by his legs by the trapper in the brush covered hole. Even the warrior’s scent had been purified by smoke in the prior religious ritual to give him the right to catch these birds. There are few Golden Eagle left east of the Mississippi River because they prefer solitude and the areas there have far too many people for them to feel at home. Four inches thick 13" wide x 17" tall. Basswood |
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