BILLINGS, Mont. — America’s golden eagles face a growing threat from the black market for their feathers used in Native American powwows and other ceremonies, according to officials, researchers and tribal members.

The government’s response has been twofold: a crackdown on rings illegally trafficking dead eagles, along with a long-standing program that legally distributes eagle feathers and parts to tribal members.

But the program has been behind schedule for years, and officials said illegal killing appears to be getting worse, with young golden eagles particularly targeted because of the high value placed on their black and white wing feathers. Golden eagles, which are federally protected but not considered endangered, have already faced pressure — from poisoning, climate change and wind turbines that kill eagles in collisions.

An investigation centered around a Montana Indian reservation recently yielded its first conviction — a Washington state man accused along with others of killing thousands of birds, including at least 118 bald eagles and golden eagles, and selling the parts in the U.S. and abroad.

He is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday to up to five years in prison in a case that offers a rare glimpse into the black market.

Another investigation involving undercover agents recovered 150 golden and bald eagles over the past decade, with 35 defendants charged and 31 convicted of wildlife violations, according to court records and federal officials.

Perry Lilley, a member of the Nakota tribe in northern Montana, attends many powwows a year and says he’s been asked to buy eagle feathers. He said the illegal shooting was “absolutely wrong” but sympathized with tribal members who don’t want to wait years for eagle parts.

Eagle feathers are woven in Native American culture. Beyond powwow regalia, they are presented to high school graduates, used in marriage ceremonies, and buried with the dead.

Exploitation of local traditions

A Colorado government warehouse that provides dead eagles and their parts for free to tribal members keeps up with orders for individual feathers, such as for graduates. However, it cannot meet the demand for eagle wings, tails and whole birds, even as powwows become more elaborate and competitive.

That left an opening for criminals to exploit Native Americans trying to keep traditions alive.

“The amount of money you can make in powwows has increased a lot in the last 10 years, which has increased some of the demand,” said Ed Grace, chief of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “If the price of feathers goes up, people … become opportunistic and see that you can make a lot of money in a relatively short period of time by poaching eagles to secure the feather trade.”

Eagle feathers were on full display at a recent powwow in Billings, where dozens of feathered Native Americans paraded into a university field house to begin dance competitions. Their feet moved to the beat of a drum, its rhythmic sounds periodically interrupted by high-pitched chanting.

The women wore fans with eagle feathers. The men wore headdresses made of eagle feathers that bounced back and forth as they danced.

At the head of the procession was a man wielding a staff with an eagle’s head. Behind him, among the tribal elders, was Kenneth Deputee, Sr., from the nearby Crow Indian Reservation.

Around his waist was a decorative piece strung with eagle feathers, and he carried a short wooden staff carved into a bald eagle’s head, from which hung a single feather.

For the Deputy, feathers mean strength and provide protection.

“Feathers are very important,” he said. “I’m 72, but once I put it on, I’m ready to rock and roll. … All that power comes back to me, you know, so I’m ready to go out there and boogie woogie.”

Comanche Nation member Bill Voelker describes the powwows differently: more show than spiritual, with some feathers bought online, where eagle parts can cost hundreds of dollars.

Not all powwows have cash prizes.

A “killer foil” in Montana

In the ongoing poaching case in Montana, the defendant and accomplices allegedly killed approximately 3,600 birds — including golden and bald eagles — during what one defendant called a “killer spree.” Prosecutors say the killings began in 2009 and continued until 2021 on the Flathead Reservation, home to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes.

Such investigations are resource-intensive and can take years, Grace said. That’s hard to sustain for an agency with about three law enforcement officers per state, on average.

The case involving 150 eagle carcasses spanned several states and included two pawn shops in South Dakota, with bird parts bought and sold in Iowa, Montana, Nebraska and Wyoming as well.

“Almost all the information we get about eagle trafficking comes from Native Americans, it comes from tribes, it comes from public citizens,” Grace said. “And then we’ll look at that information and specifically go after the larger groups of traffickers.”

Illegal shooting is a leading cause of eagle deaths, according to a recent government study. The pending case in Montana arose from an area with some of the highest concentrations of vultures and other raptors in the western US.

Online postings from people illegally selling eagle feathers are relatively easy to find on internet marketplaces.

“The biggest atrocity in Indian country today is the powwow, but nobody’s going to say that out loud because everybody’s taking part,” said Voelker, who operates a feather depot and abduction shelter in southern Oklahoma .

Eagles on ice

Voelker’s is one of only two non-federal feather repositories in the US. Most dead eagles, parts and feathers received by tribal members come from the wildlife service’s National Eagle Repository.

In the service’s warehouse-sized building on a nature preserve outside Denver, a wildlife technician recently removed a cold eagle carcass from a box.

He spread the wings, twirled the tail, examined the feathers, then methodically cut off the tail with a knife and cut off the wings and legs with a garden chipper. The pieces went into separate plastic bags to be packaged and mailed to tribal members in the US

The repository receives 3,500 dead bald and golden eagles annually from state wildlife agencies, bird rehabilitation facilities, zoos and other sources. It receives several thousand requests annually from tribal members for feathers, whole eagles and parts thereof.

Bird flu has slowed poultry processing at the warehouse; every eagle must now be tested to prevent its spread.

The longest backlog of requests is for young golden eagles.

A dry erase board in the processing area showed how much demand outstrips supply: 1,242 pending requests for whole immature golden eagles, with only 17 available. Over 600 requests for wings; 40 available. Almost 450 requested queues; 17 available.

The repository is currently fulfilling requests for immature golden eagles made in 2013. Wait times for bald or partial eagles are up to two years.

Lilley, the Nakota member, said many of the feathers in his regalia were given to him or came from a dead eagle he found along a fence after it had apparently been shot.

He also received a golden eagle from the government depository years after he applied for it.

Lilley recalled the excitement when the package arrived with a whole bird on dry ice.

“I had to get somebody to show me how to pluck it, take out the feathers, the tail feathers, the claws, the head and things like that,” he said.

One of the bird’s legs is attached to the short staff that Lilley wields during powwow dances. A wing is transformed into a fan.

“For a dancer, when you’re outside, it gets pretty hot, so it’s kind of like your AC, that fan,” he said.