Texas tribe wins 10-year fight over its use of eagle feathers

Ten years after a federal agent crashed a pow-wow of a Texas tribe and seized their ceremonial eagle feathers, the tribe has won a settlement that lets members keep the feathers – and get court costs paid, too.

“The fight wasn’t for the feathers,” said Robert Soto, vice chairman of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas. “It was for the religious rights for Native peoples.”

When he and other members went to sign the settlement with the Interior Department Monday, they wore their feathers and had a celebratory dance with 150 people.

“I’m just excited,” said Soto of the settlement. “Sometimes I think I’m dreaming this. It meant a lot to me. All I want is the restoration of native rights.”

The pow-wow is considered a sacred gathering where tribal members dance in a circle, many wearing decorative eagle feathers. And the feathers are also treated as sacred, said Soto, who has had his feathers since 1970, when a rancher found a dead eagle whose feathers eventually were passed to Soto.

“We consider the eagle a sacred object,” said Soto.

The federal government also is invested in the eagle. The bald eagle is the symbol of the United States, and was until 2007, on the endangered species list. The golden eagle also enjoys federal protection. The Fish and Wildlife Service, which is part of the Interior Department, keeps tight control over eagle feathers and parts of the bird, especially with federally-recognized Indian tribes, which have permits to use them.

The Lipan Apache Tribe, however, doesn’t have federal recognition, making it vulnerable to federal action. The tribe is centered in McAllen and has about 4,000 members from San Antonio to the border.

Soto and several Native Americans challenged the Interior Department in court, eventually winning before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2014 on religious freedom grounds. After that decision, the federal government returned the feathers – both bald and golden eagle feathers were seized – to Soto and others.

“The government has no business sending undercover agents to raid peaceful Native American religious ceremonies,” said Luke Goodrich, deputy general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which took on the case. “Native Americans were caring for eagles before this nation was a twinkle in the Founding Fathers’ eyes. This historic agreement recognizes that the government violated Mr. Soto’s religious freedom and must respect the rights of all Native Americans in the future.”

The settlement gives the 400 Native Americans identified as plaintiffs the same rights over eagle feathers as those of federally recognized tribes.

“It’s an issue of pride,” said Soto, pastor of the McAllen Grace Brethren Church. “We didn’t kill them before and we’re not going to kill them now.”

The settlement must still be approved by Chief Judge Ricardo Hinojosa of the Southern District of Texas. A status conference is scheduled for June 28. Jimmy Rodriguez, an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, said no problems are anticipated.

This story was originally published June 15, 2016 at 7:52 PM with the headline "Texas tribe wins 10-year fight over its use of eagle feathers."