Eagles Have Landed...

Traditionally, the Mandan and Hidatsa used to go eagle-feather trapping out in what is presentday western Dakota. This was an all-male activity, and usually involved a period of 1-3 day fasting. Then an annointed male would slumber, and the dream he had was supposed to indicate whether eagle trapping would be good, and where to dig the pit. The pit was dug, the man hid inside, and the top was covered with sticks and shrubs. Then a dead rabbit (or equivalent) was put atop the sticks, and the man would wait ever so patiently. The idea was to get the eagle to swoop down, and once it grabbed the dead rabbit, the man would spring from the trap, grab the eagle by the talons, and pluck a few feathers. After this, the eagle was released (from that point on very weary of dead rabbits anywhere in the Badlands). Kind of cool. I know Mongolians today still train eagles to hunt for them. It's all quite interesting. Good to see this impressive bird is doing so well, enough so that they could pull it off the Endangered Species list.