Judge says feds show indifference to NDN religion

[Okwes]

Judge says feds show indifference to American Indian religion

By Ben Neary
ASSOCIATED PRESS

1:43 p.m. November 10, 2006

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Saying the federal government pays no more than lip service to respecting the religious beliefs of American Indians, a federal judge in Wyoming has dismissed criminal charges against a Northern Arapaho man who shot a bald eagle last year for use in his tribe's Sun Dance.
Lawyers for Indian groups say the order by U.S. District Judge William F. Downes should prompt the federal government to streamline its program of parceling out dead eagles and eagle feathers to Indians.

They say it also should prompt federal officials to begin a serious dialogue with tribes about allowing tribal members to kill some eagles for religious purposes.
Federal officials, however, filed notice this week that they intend to appeal the judge's order.

Downes on Oct. 13 dismissed the charge against Winslow Friday, 22, of Ethete, Wyo., on the Wind River Indian Reservation. The reservation is home to both the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes. He had been charged with killing a bald eagle with a rifle in March 2005.

Downes dismissed the charge after lawyers for Friday and his tribe argued that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service generally refuses to grant permits allowing tribal members to kill eagles, even though federal regulations say such permits should be available.

Chris Schneider, the tribe's attorney, also said more than 5,000 Indians are on a waiting list to get an eagle from a federal repository of eagle carcasses, and that the waiting period is about 3½ years.

“Although the government professes respect and accommodation of the religious practices of Native Americans, its actions show callous indifference to such practices,” Downes wrote. “It is clear to this court that the government has no intention of accommodating the religious beliefs of Native Americans except on its own terms and in its own good time.”

Friday, who could have been sentenced to up to a year in jail and a $100,000 fine if convicted, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that he had no regrets about killing the bird.

“I'm going to say no, because of what I did with the bird,” he said. “I participated in our Sun Dance. No, because that made me feel good in my heart.”

Friday said he considered accepting a plea bargain for a $5,000 fine and two years probation, but rejected the offer on the advice of his tribe's spiritual leaders.

He said he's heard complaints from other Indians about the slow process of legally obtaining dead eagles from the federal repository in Colorado, which holds the remains of eagles often killed by cars or power lines. He said a friend received a bird from the repository that was in such poor condition it couldn't be used in ceremonies.

“The way it was told to me, the eagle takes the prayers that we have here, takes them up to the creator,” Friday said. “That's one main reason that we believe in it so much, it does that. It's an offering – you want it to be nice.”

Schneider said that while charges were pending against Friday, he called the federal agency's offices in Wyoming and Colorado to ask how Indians could get permits to kill eagles, but was told that such permits didn't exist.

Dominic Domenici, Fish and Wildlife Service resident agent in charge for Wyoming and Montana, said in a telephone interview last month that he knows few eagle kill permits have been issued in the Southwest, and he knows of none in Wyoming – but he also said he doesn't know of any Wyoming Indians applying.

U.S. Attorney Matt Mead filed notice Wednesday that he will ask a federal appeals court in Denver to review Downes' ruling. Attempts to reach Mead on Thursday and Friday were unsuccessful.

[blackcrowheart]

Heed judge -- Feds need to respect American Indian beliefs

www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/287511374379449
<http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/287511374379449>

A federal judge in Wyoming has dismissed criminal charges against a
Northern Arapaho man who shot a bald eagle last year for use in one of
his tribe's ceremonial dances.

At the same time, the judge made it clear that the federal government
needs to clean up its act when it comes to accommodating the religious
beliefs of American Indians, for whom the eagle holds special spiritual
meaning.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge William F. Downes wrote: "Although
the government professes respect and accommodation of the religious
practices of Native Americans, its actions show callous indifference to
such practices. It is clear to this court that the government has no
intention of accommodating the religious beliefs of Native Americans
except on its own terms and in its own good time."

The judge ruled in favor of Winslow Friday, 22, of Ethete, Wyo., on the
Wind River Indian Reservation, who was charged with killing a bald eagle
with a rifle in March 2005. Lawyers for Friday and his tribe argued that
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service generally refuses to grant permits
allowing tribal members -- a process that would include members of the
Yakama Nation -- to kill eagles, even though federal regulations say
such permits should be available.

The federal government does, in fact, have a repository of dead eagles,
from which it parcels out the birds. But that can be a long time
happening.

One tribal attorney said that more than 5,000 Indians are on a waiting
list to get an eagle from a federal repository of eagle carcasses, and
that the waiting period is about
31/2 years.

We don't condone Winslow Friday's unsanctioned shooting. But in the wake
of the legal repercussions it caused, two things are apparent:

* The federal government needs to end the bureaucratic snarl at the
repository. Three-and-a-half years is an ridiculously long time to wait
for feathers from dead birds.

* The hunting permitting system needs to be updated to address today's
realities. The majestic birds are protected, but their population has
rebounded and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is moving forward with
the process of removing the bald eagle in the lower 48 states from the
list of threatened and endangered species.

Once that happens, it would seem reasonable that a limited number of
hunting permits could be granted to satisfy tribal ceremonial needs --
assuming cleanup of the repository process doesn't solve it first.

In this state, the Makah tribe's right to hunt whales was reinstated in
1994 when the gray whale was taken off the Endangered Species List. If
we can do it for whales, why not eagles?

Judge Downes got it right. Now the appropriate federal officials need to
heed his common-sense advice and show appropriate respect for American
Indian customs and religious beliefs that predate the federal government
itself.

* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are
Michael Shepard, Sarah Jenkins and Bill Lee.