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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 2013)
Spi [yay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon Page 9 October 2, 2013 Aroun4 the Region Eagle aviary proposed for feathers P E N D L E T O N (AP) - Tribal m em bers w ho need riagle feathers for religious and ceremonial purposes of ten face a long wait. “The current process for trib al m em bers to secure eagle feathers is to apply to the N ational Eagle Reposi tory,” said C arl Scheeler, Wildlife Program M anager for the Confederated Tribes o f the Umatilla Indian Res ervation. “The waiting time can be up to a year.” , A proposed eagle aviary in Pendleton could dramatically decrease the wait. The facility, hinging on a $200,000 grant from the U.S. F ish & W ildlife S ervice, would house up to 12 non- releasable birds. The CTUIR will learn the fate o f its grant proposal sometime after the president signs the D epart ment o f the Interior budget in the early mbnths o f 2014. The aviary, the first in the Pacific Northwest, would be near Pendleton’s McKay Res ervoir at Blue Mountain Wild life. The organization rehabili tates sick or injured wildlife, mainly birds o f prey such as eagles, owls and hawks. ‘W e take in more raptors th an anyw here else in the Pacific Northwest,” said Lynn T om pkins, the directo r at Blue Mountain Wildlife. T om pkins and Scheeler started championing the idea o f a tribal eagle aviary years ago as a speedier way to pro cure eagle feathers. Though Blue Mountain takes in about a dozen eagles every year, T om pkins can n o t provide molted feathers or other eagle parts to local tribe members. All feathers and bodies o f dead eagles go to the federal repository in Denver, Colo., even if they were found on local tribal land. ‘W e don’t currently have- the option o f securing local birds for use by the local com munity,” Scheeler said. “They must go to the national reposi tory for the next person on the list.” The CTUIR plan includes a 30-by-50-foot flight pen and a rodent-rearing facility at Blue M ountain Wildlife and a feather repository lo cated at the Tamastslikt Cul tural Institute in Pendleton. The tribal repository Would in clu d e a “ su p e r-c o o l” freezer to kill parasites before storage and distribution o f feathers. ‘W e need a place to safely curate and store the feathers,” Scheeler said. “The secure fa cilities at Tam astslikt were an obvious choice.” Tompkins and Scheeler said only non-releasable eagles, birds that would die in the wild, would populate the tribal avi ary. Sadly, they said, there is no shortage o f those. “It seems there is no end to the number o f injured birds that come into Blue Mountain Wildlife,” Scheeler said. T om pkins sto o d in the facility’s current eagle flight pen Monday with about 10 injured eagles flapping and perching around her. The pen is smaller by half than the proposed one and has a net ting ceiling, instead o f wood and beam. The iconic birds come here for a variety o f reasons, she said. Some fly into wind turbines or power lines. Others collide with cars, are shot or ingest lead. The grant would provide funding for public education about eagles, addressing such topics as how lead affects the birds. The high num ber o f lead poisoned birds saddens Tompkins and Scheeler. The birds often feed on gut piles or carcasses left by hunters w ho use lead shot o r lead bullets. “They are leaving animals that are toxic,” Tompkins said. “They are putting o ut p oi son.” The education piece would also address how the eagle feather is intertw ined w ith tribal culture arid faith. I f a feather falls from the busde o r h ead p ie ce o f a n ativ e dancer, it can bring a pow wow to sudden halt, trigger ing a special retrieval cer emony. T eara F arro w F errnan, manager o f CTUIR’s Cultural R esources P ro tectio n P ro gram, said the feathers appear in dance regalia, ceremonies and in homes and cars as pro tection. In wedding ceremo nies, a woman receives two feathers just before the couple is officially joined as husband and wife. 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