Cheyenne – Saying the federal government pays mere lip service to respecting the religious beliefs of American Indians, a federal judge in Wyoming recently 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 American 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 American Indians. And they say it should prompt federal officials to begin a serious dialogue with tribes.
Federal officials, however, filed notice last week that they intend to appeal the judge’s order.
Downes on Oct. 13 dismissed the charge against Winslow Friday, 22, of Ethete on the Wind River Indian Reservation in central Wyoming, 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 on the reservation.
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.
“Although the government professes respect and accommodation of the religious practices of Native Americans, its actions show callous indifference to such practices,” Downes wrote.
Friday said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that he had no regrets about killing the bird.
In the tribe’s brief, attorney Chris Schneider wrote that to charge Friday with taking an eagle without a permit when such permits don’t exist defies logic and prohibits Friday’s free exercise of religion.
Schneider’s filing included evidence that more than 5,000 American Indians are on the waiting list to get an eagle from the federal repository and that the waiting period is about 3 1/2 years.
