Eagles Wear Plumage of Myth

Swoop and Soar, Death and Rain 5 EAGLE MYTHS

Mysterious and majestic, the eagle soars through Native American myths, associated with rain and thunder, death and rebirth, sickness and healing-awe alternating with fear.

Hopi lore considers the eagle a divine messenger, which is why some clans gather young eaglets and raise them respectfully on elevated platforms to be sacrificed in May or June in the Niman Katsina ceremony marking the return of the kachinas to their otherworld homes for the rest of the year.

According to Frank Waters in The Book of the Hopi, “The Kachina Father then delivers his farewell to the kachinas: ‘Now it is time that you go home. Take with you our humble prayer, not only for our people and people everywhere, but for all the animal kingdom, the birds and insects, and the growing things that make our world a green carpet. Take our message to the four corners of the world, that all life may receive renewal by having moisture... May you go on your way with happy hearts and grateful thoughts.’” After the ceremony, their feathers are plucked for future use and the eagles are buried in special cemeteries.

Following are some Native American eagle tales. In some cases, different versions of a single story have been combined.

Look familiar? Deemed a divine messenger by Hopi ancients, the eagle has also made its heralding mark in modern America. When the Post Office Department reorganized under the Nixon administration in 1971, the country bid farewell to the running pony that had symbolized the service for more than 140 years and replaced it with the national airborne icon. A 1990s redesign of the logo eliminated the eagle stance (similar to the one seen here), leaving its head as the lone image for the USPS logo still in use today.

Eagle Welcomes Hopis to the Fourth World (Hopi)

After they arrived in the Fourth World, the Creator directed each Hopi clan to travel throughout the world before returning to live at the Center of the Universe. When they climbed a high mountain, they encountered an eagle. Two spokesmen for the tribe, insect-people resembling the locust, asked the eagle if he would share this new land with the Hopi clans.

"If you pass the tests that prove you worthy you may stay," the eagle said.

He beckoned the first locust forward.

"I am going to poke an arrow into your eyes. If you keep them open, I will consider your request."

The brave locust stood fast and refused to even blink as the eagle tested him with a sharp arrow point.

"You are a people of great strength," the eagle admitted. "One more test and I will allow you to stay."

A second locust stepped forward, and the eagle shot an arrow through its body. In response, the locust lifted his flute and began to play a sweet melody. The eagle shot the other locust in the same manner, and this locust, too, began to play his flute.

"Well you are even more powerful than I had thought," the eagle exclaimed. "Now that you have stood both tests you may use my feather any time you want to talk to our Father Sun, the Creator, and I will deliver your message because I am the conqueror of the air and master of height."

Since that time, Hopis have revered the eagles' feathers as sacred symbols.

BIRDS OF A FEATHER

Not unlike humans, these white-headed wonders become so with age. In the bald eagle branch of the hawk family tree, this most noticeable mark of maturation generally happens between the ages of 4 and 5. Later, their remaining feathers grow darker, while their eyes, feet and clawlike bills turn bright yellow. Until then, eaglet bodies, which can grow up to 14 pounds, are almost entirely brown, as seen on the left. Unlike humans, however, the eaglet females typically become the bigger, more dominant birds and the better hunters.

The Legend of Man Eagle (O'odham)

The O'odham say that in the early days of creation, a man was beguiled into drinking a magic potion of pinole tainted with ground-up eagle feathers. Immediately, pinfeathers sprouted all over his body, and before long he was transformed into a large eagle. He flew up into the wild mountains of Apacheland, where he made his home in a large cliff. His huge appetite soon decimated the herds of deer, and he began to kill people for food. He also carried off a beautiful young girl and forced her to become his wife. The people waged war on Man Eagle, but could not kill the wicked “shape-shifter.” Finally, the people went to Elder Brother for help.

“I will go to that mountain myself against Man Eagle,” said Elder Brother. “If you see clouds rise over the mountain you will know I was successful.” Elder Brother scaled the cliff to reach the cave, where he found Man Eagle's wife. She agreed to help him, and so Elder Brother turned into a fly and hid under the pile of corpses Man Eagle had killed. Man Eagle's wife then lured her husband to sleep and whistled to Elder Brother four times. At the summons, Elder Brother emerged and cut off the head of the evil Man Eagle. So great was Man Eagle's power that the whole mountain shook with thunder and clouds gathered over the peak. Elder Brother brought the corpses back to life, and these resurrected people made a litter filled with eagle feathers. They carried Elder Brother down the mountain singing: On my litter of feathers I look big and wise like a medicine man. On my bed of downy feathers I am lying And my heart is light as the wind. Thunderclouds went out from me And covered the mountain.

The Tale of Monster Slayer and the Giant Birds (Navajo)

When the world was young, Monster Slayer traveled Navajoland to destroy the evils that had sprung up because of the transgressions of the First People. Among these evils were the Giant Birds, the offspring of eagle plumes. They carried people to their mountain home to feed to their monstrous brood. Monster Slayer went to the home of the Giant Birds, where the male monster plucked him up and flung him at the sharp rocks in his nest. However, two magic feathers saved Monster Slayer from the fall, and he tricked the mighty bird by smashing a bag of blood he carried around his neck to make it seem that he had died.

The two nestlings cried a warning to their father, but Monster Slayer hushed the young monsters. When the Male Rain and its accompaniment of thunder and lightning came, Monster Slayer killed the father bird with one of his lightning arrows. On the next night, the gentle shower of Female Rain brought the monstrous mother and Monster Slayer slew her as well. Upon seeing their parents felled from the sky, the young birds cried in fear. "Will you slay us, too?" "Had you grown up here you would have been things of evil; you would have lived only to destroy my people," Monster Slayer said. "But I shall now make you something that will be of use in the days to come."

Monster Slayer took the first nestling and swung it around him four times, telling it to forget its evil origins and furnish plumes and bones for The People. He let go and the eagle soared toward the sky. He did the same with the second nestling, saying that men would listen to its voice to learn the future, and the owl departed in search of the night.

Monster Slayer now searched for a way down, but soon realized only a winged creature could reach the nest. At sunset, he saw Bat Woman walking around the base of the cliff and called four times to her for help.

"Grandmother there is no danger up here for I have killed the Giant Birds," he said. "If you take me down you can have all the feathers from the Giant Birds."

Bat Woman agreed and carried Monster Slayer down from his perch on the high peak. Monster Slayer filled her basket with the Giant Birds' feathers and warned her not to walk through a neighboring field of sunflowers. Despite his warning, she did just that. After a few steps, she heard a fluttering and a little bird flew past her. After a few more steps, a brilliantly colored flock of birds flew out of her basket of feath-ers, transformed by the magic of the sunflowers. She could not catch them, so she named the little birds until her basket was empty. That is how the feathers of the Giant Birds became a rainbow of color in the sky-the flickers, swallows, starlings, robins, spar-rows, wrens, warblers, titmice, juncos, nuthatches and all of the other little birds of the world.

NUTHING BUT TALON

Ranging from 6 to 7.5 feet, the wingspan of a bald eagle rivals the height of some NBA players. By keeping their wings flat, the roving raptors can soar and glide across surfaces at more than 30 mph to grab prey with pinpoint precision. Sensational folklore once held that eagles were prone to snatching up small children, but these creatures generally prefer “fast food” weighing under 5 pounds, like fish, squirrels and rabbits. They also enjoy more relaxed meals of wounded waterfowl, road-kill and other colorful carrion.

Killer-of-Enemies and the Eagles

When the world was still young, Killer-of-Enemies made his way into an eagle nest where he acted as a protector for the young eaglets until their parents returned. On the fourth day, the father and mother eagle came down and asked what he wanted. Killer-of-Enemies asked the eagles to take him up to visit the heavens. The eagles agreed. They fitted him with an eagle suit and taught him to fly. After a grueling four-day journey, Killer-of-Enemies finally reached the hole in the sky and entered the home of the eagles.

Here, Killer-of-Enemies learned that the eagles were at war with the bees. A battle began, and the eagles started dying. So Killer-of-Enemies wrapped himself in a buffalo hide and entered the melee. The brave warrior killed all of the bees except two, a male and a female, which he sent to Earth with the command that they not kill any more. The bees agreed, but said, "When people tease us, we will give them a shock"-which is why the myth holds that bees sting when provoked.

"It is a good thing that you came up," said the eagle chief to Killer-of-Enemies. "You have brought us peace."

In gratitude, the chief gifted Killer-of-Enemies with a bundle of eagle feathers and an eagle headdress. Killer-of Enemies gave these things to the neighboring Pueblo people, who still use them in their ceremonies today.

EAGLE-EYED

Eagles are thought to have the keenest vision of any living animal. Because their eyes are so large, they move very little within their sockets, causing the birds to direct their vision by turning their heads like owls. A series of depressions in the retina called fovea provide the birds with both monocular (lateral) and binocular (forward) vision and enable them to magnify images from great distances. For every square millimeter of fovea, eagles have about 1,000,000 visual cells. Humans have 200,000.

Eagle Power (O'odham)

A black-headed eagle On a low rock Flapped its wings.

A white-headed eagle On a low rock Descended.

Eagle bird! When he alights There is a sound of thunder.

Hawk bird! When he perches There is a flash of lightning, An eagle is walking, Toward me it is walking; Its down feathers blow in the breeze.

A hawk is running, Toward me it is running; Its down feathers ruffle in the wind.

Eagle, my older brother, Like a bow, in every direction, Your long feathers are bent.

Hawk, my younger brother, Like arrows, in every direction, Your down feathers are let loose.

The Mountain of Reeds Stands up at the west. There an eagle cries, The flat land resounds.

The Narrow Mountain Stands up at the east. There a hawk cries, The mountains echo.

Carrie M. Miner has had a fascination with raptors since her first encounter with a golden eagle as a young girl hiking with her father in the Rocky Mountains.

Tom Vezo of Green Valley says photographing eagles is thrilling, difficult and addictive. Most photos for this story were shot with a 600 mm lens from a long distance, using "fast" film. Vezo also photographed the "Nestwatchers" story on page 16 and the "Birds and Birders" story on page 32.