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March 15th, 2012
10:33 PM ET
Feds grant Native American tribe permit to kill bald eagles for religious purposesBy Eric Fiegel, CNN Washington (CNN) - It's the symbol of America, and for the first time, the U.S. government has granted a Native American tribe a permit to kill two bald eagles for religious purposes. The permit application was filed in 2008 by the Northern Arapaho Tribe in Wyoming and, after years of review, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued it on March 9.
"They did make a case for why the take of a bird from the wild was necessary," Matt Hogan, Denver regional director for the Fish and Wildlife Service, told CNN. Last year, the tribe filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the federal government for denying the application, saying it "unreasonably burdens the religious rights of tribal members," court documents stated. The case is pending. Hogan, who was in charge of granting the permit, says the lawsuit was not the reason the permit got approved when it did. He says it took time to make sure all the criteria were met and that the permit was in accordance with the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, which allows bald eagles to be used by Native Americans in religious ceremonies. The eagle "flies higher then any other creature. It sees many things. It's closer to the Creator," said Robert Holden, deputy director of the National Congress of American Indians. Holden said he was bothered by the comments he was hearing: that this permit would lead to a mass killing of bald eagles. "How stupid can that be?" he said. "It's a religion. It's what we do. We're more concerned about the eagle population than any culture in this Western Hemisphere. Why would we want to kill all the eagles?" Hogan said the permit's issuance will have little effect on the powerful raptor. Taking two eagles from the wild "will not in any way jeopardize the status of the eagle population, either in the state of Wyoming or nationwide," he said, "and the good news is bald eagles are doing quite well." That wasn't the case some 70 years ago, when the species was threatened with extinction, leading Congress to pass a law prohibiting the killing, selling or possession of the bird. In 2007, the bald eagle was removed from the threatened and endangered species list. Hogan said applications for a permit to kill or capture a bald eagle are rare. Native Americans often have to get bald eagle feathers for their ceremonies from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife national feather repository in Denver. Hogan said it can take years for the tribes to get the feathers this way, because demand often exceeds supply. Holden, who is part Choetaw/Shickasaw, sought to put some perspective on the situation: "If someone ordered a Bible or some religious artifact and they had to wait for a long time, how fair is that?" The permit is good until February 2013, and Hogan said he knows of no other applications being filed. As part of permit, the tribe has to notify the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within 24 hours once the bald eagles are killed or captured. Hogan said he is still waiting for that word. soundoff (1,883 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Wow. Since the bald eagle has been removed the endangered and even from even the threatened species list, and the Native Americans (who managed the wildlife here better than we ever will) only want to take two of them, why are people opposed? Yes, they are a national symbol that we adopted. But they obviously mean much more to the Native Americans who view them not just nationally, but also religiously. Yes, they should be allowed to take a few of them for feathers as long as the numbers won’t impact the survival of the species (which the US government has verified it won’t). Those of you who say they shouldn't kill the birds based on American nationalism or Christianity, you make no sense to me and I share your nationalism and religion (and have served in your military too). And to those of you who say "they lost the war" or are making enough money via casinos they shouldn't worry about anything need to grow up and educate yourselves. Not every tribe or every person in them recieves anything from casinos. Saying you're disrespectful of your fellow Americans doesn't even begin to cover it.
The Native indians were here way before us, and at least the showed the respect to go thru the proper channels
to ask for a permit, and it was granted Case closed
This incident appears to be more about a man's ego, and less about his sincere spiritual beliefs.
Disgusting !! To kill a Bald Eagle for its feathers. These ‘so called native Indian people’ do this for religious purposes. HA ! Where is their religion on the gaming casino’s….oh yeah right that’s for $$ money. Bunch of hypocrites !!!!!
So, people who have jobs to make money can't have a religion, and therefore shouldn't be allowed to practice it. Interesting...
Canadian's don't treat their natives like this.... oh wait.
Take feathers,but dont kill them!!!
I am sure they could get their feathers without KILLING our NATIONAL BIRD ! The Eagles where here before the Indians !!!!!!!!!!
Valerie
I think the point is that the natives were using the feathers long before we came along and made killing the birds illegal.
i think native americans should be allowed to take bald eagle feathers without a permit...hell they were the first people here and we stripped them of everything
To kill an animal, even for eating is wrong, but most of us do eat meat. To kill an animal other than to protect from death, is murder and the party responsible is held accountable whether caught or not! So no don't kill the eagle, it will bring you bad luck.
Robospa: Are you perhaps a Jain? That's the ONLY way I can think of not to mock you. If you truly believe the goop that comes out of your mouth, maybe you should become a vegan and join PETA. Oh yes, and quit driving a car, stop using electricity, and modern drugs, and just live in a log cabin in the woods...If you do all of this well, you MIGHT even live to be 55 to 60 years old before you die. Please, use some common sense-
we humans are a disgusting race what we ever we touch we destroy. when man is gone the animals will rule the way its suppose to be. freedom at last.
Have you not gone yer?
You do realize that the animal kingdom is just as brutal as ours, right? I mean, other than the fact that they use their claws and teeth to kill while we usually use weapons. You're not exactly hinged right in the head if you think the animal world is one of peace and harmony.
have we not gotten past brutality its barbarism and its disgusting shame of the fish and game i thought they could get it from the place whre they can get feathers. its not religion its animal cruelty and its illegal its a felony.
This is so rediculous. Indians want to do it their way and want our government to change it to suit them. If you are a so called American then you have NO right to kill this American symbol. We should have gotten rid of all of you people when we had a chance. Next thing we know you will want the right to kill a human being. When does it stop? People are we that stupid to believe this.
Is that your best response? You are an idiot!
I am.
Regarding Daniel's earlier post, way to miss the point. Here we go again. Refute it if you can:
The point that I am presenting is straight from your bible. The subject is the animal sacrifices required by the Christian god according to the bible, very explicitly so in Leviticus. Read it again, and respond in detail if you can:
The bible is very clear that you should sacrifice and burn an animal today because the smell purportedly makes your Christian god happy. No, you don't get to use the parts for food. You burn them, a complete waste of the poor animal.
Yes, the bible really says that, everyone. Yes, it's in Leviticus, look it up. Yes, Jesus purportedly said that the OT commands still apply. No exceptions. But even if you think the OT was god's mistaken first go around, you have to ask why a perfect, loving enti-ty would ever put such horrid instructions in there. If you think rationally at all, that is.
So get out your sacrificial knife or your nasty sky creature will torture you eternally. Or just take a closer look at your foolish supersti-tions, understand that they are just silly, and toss them into the dustbin with all the rest of the gods that man has created.
Ask the questions. Break the chains. Be free of religion in 2012.
http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/
While I don't necessarily disagree with Atheism, I must point out that the "burned" or "burnt" offering you are referencing is a "Korban"; the ritual only requires parts of the animal be burned in offering to God. The rest of the animal is eaten by the attendees. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korban Additionally, such rituals are used in the Jewish faith as part of a contract between God and humans; in Christianity a new contract is created by the sacrifice of Jesus so such rituals are not necessary any more. So, you're wrong all around, though again I'm not particularly against Atheism (hell, I don't really care much about religion), I just hate inaccuracies.
Again, the bible explicity disagrees with you The stated purpose of the sacrifice is to please god, and you do not get to eat the spoils. But even if you did, the sacrifice for the stated purpose is still horrid and unnecessary. So, again the question: why did a supposedly loving deity put such explicit, horrid instructions for sacrifice in the bible at all, at any point in time, before or after Jeebus? Note that that same bible explicitly promotes slavery, and bible god apparently issues instructions for murder and rape. What a horrid book, and what a horrid religion.
The point that I am presenting is straight from your bible. The subject is the animal sacrifices required by the Christian god according to the bible, very explicitly so in Leviticus. Read it again, and respond in detail if you can:
The bible is very clear that you should sacrifice and burn an animal today because the smell purportedly makes your Christian god happy. No, you don't get to use the parts for food. You burn them, a complete waste of the poor animal.
Yes, the bible really says that, everyone. Yes, it's in Leviticus, look it up. Yes, Jesus purportedly said that the OT commands still apply. No exceptions. But even if you think the OT was god's mistaken first go around, you have to ask why a perfect, loving enti-ty would ever put such horrid instructions in there. If you think rationally at all, that is.
So get out your sacrificial knife or your nasty sky creature will torture you eternally. Or just take a closer look at your foolish supersti-tions, understand that they are just silly, and toss them into the dustbin with all the rest of the gods that man has created.
Ask the questions. Break the chains. Be free of religion in 2012.
http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/
Call the police! some sonofab!itch is tryin to shoot me!!!
I can't get past the idea that in allowing the tribe to kill two of these birds we are that much closer to extinction
Eagles are no longer endangered. The were removed from the list 5 years ago.
While I fully respect religious traditions, these are used in symbolic ceremonies, and in Catholic Mass, the communion host is a symbol of the body of Christ in the unity of the Holy Spirit, which are also symbols for our contact with God, or the Great Spirit or Creator, so why couldn't they just use synthetic feathers? Is it because the sacrifice is an offering to their God? Somehow I'm more comfortable with hosts and candles than I am with sacrificing any animal or bird species, regardless of tradition and belief. But, I'm from European heritage, so I accept their differences. They are nothing but reverential of nature, so who wouldn't trust their judgment?
I am part native american and i think its the native americans right to not have to ask for permission. we were here in this country first before the government shoved the navtive americans into reservations all this land use to belong to the native american people if it weren't for the native americans showing the white people how to survive off the land this land would probably still be the american indians land. The bald egale may be an american symbol but it is also the native americans right to use them for tribel and religous reasons. How would you feel if someone told you you couldn't pray to God? or go to church? I stand fully behind the Native Americans all the way.
you lost the war dumb a@#!! we could of killed you all but we did not
Hey spare me your resentment towards the white man You got em back with Casinos did'nt you? As far as killing another creature for your religion is barbaric to say the least.
Aaron.... so who were the inhabitants before the Native American Indians arrived? Nobody? I was always educated that they "migrated" via the Bering Straight from the Russian – Siberian continent and those before them out of Africa. So doesn't that make Native Americans mere "Migrants" too. Or is this just a silly primary school game of "I was here first, it's mine". Until the end, we are all just simply caretakers of the land, past and present. And sometimes not very good ones at that.
What the kind of Religion is that? IDOL. That is abused the animal ! AMERICAN SYMBOL IS THE BALD EAGLE!
The Native American is not the Redskin, is IT...
National symbol or not, there should not be a thing such as a Permit To Kill.
When you are overrun by whitetail deer and your corn fields are destroyed, I'll remind you of that.
Prayer changes things .
Atheism: Yes I'm sure prayer changes things (In YOUR mind anyway) however, most of the rest of humanity aren't that um. gullible? naive? faithful? whatever it is you are... But hey, enjoy as long as you harm no one.
My buddy Bubba recently was arrested for shooting bald eagles. When the judge asked him why he did it, Bubba said he liked to eat them. The judge then asked what do they taste like. Bubba tells him that they bring to mind the taste of California Condor with just a hint of Spotted Owl.
I like snail darters in place of anchovies on my pizza.
The finest Thanksgiving drumstick you ever ate is Whooping Crane. Delicious!