Federal Agency Will Let US Tribe Kill Eagles

CHEYENNE, Wyoming (AP) — Court records show the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to give an American Indian tribe a rare permit to kill two bald eagles this year for religious purposes.

The Northern Arapaho Tribe in Wyoming filed a lawsuit against the agency last year, charging that its refusal to issue eagle permits violated tribal members’ religious freedom.

Tribe lawyer Andy Baldwin says he believes the agency issued the permit in response to the lawsuit.

The Fish and Wildlife Service a few years ago prosecuted a Northern Arapaho man who killed a bald eagle without a permit for use in the tribe’s annual Sun Dance.

The government allows American Indians feathers and body parts from dead eagles, but it’s rare for the agency to issue permits to kill eagles.