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Oneof the most prominent features of Native American story telling is the use ofanimals. Of all the animals used, the eagle is by far the most honoredcreature. The eagle (represented mainly with a feather) is a symbol of love,friendship, honor, bravery, and mystical powers. You can find the symbol of theeagle (or variations) from the North Pole to the most southern part ofArgentina. Although each individual tribe has its own stories about thisraptor, collectively the stories coincide in similarities.
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The eagle is also used for traditional. The Cherokee forexample, have a dance called the Eagle Dance that represents strength andpower. This dance is often performed at the tribe’s Pow-Wows. You can also findmany native headdresses at a summer time Pow-Wow. These magnificent headdressesare made of eagle feathers. Each feather on the headdress represents an honoror incident of bravery. The more feathers a brave has, the more honored he is.Also, the eagle feather can also be compared to the modern tradition of weddingbands. It is tradition for a man to give his bride a feather as a symbol oftheir life-long union. You see, feathers are like fingerprints; no two feathersare identical except for the “twin feathers” found on the wings of the eagle.Because of this, it is tradition for the feathers to be exchanged betweenfuture couples also. In the past a brave was often seen riding to war or to thehunt with a single feather tied to his horse, and his girl slept with thematching single feather tied to her bed.
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For some traditional Cherokee natives, theeagle feather is used for ceremonial, healing, and purification purposes tothis day. The practice used for these purposes is called Eagle Medicine (thegoal is to achieve a certain mind set through diligence, understanding,awareness, and personal visions). The reason the feathers are used is becausethe eagle represents duality in it own life and ours. The color of the tailfeather is divided into two parts, light and dark. The two colors come from thesame feather yet they represent darkness and lightness, male and female,substance and shadow, summer and winter, peace and war, and life and death. Itis said that the dualism is needed along with the symbol of the eagle to keepbalance in the circle of life.
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Eagle Medicine is the powerof the Great Spirit,
the connection to the Divine. It is the ability to live
in the realm of spirit, and yet remain connected
and balanced within the realm of Earth. Eagle
soars, and is quick to observe expansiveness within
the overall pattern of life. From the heights oh the
clouds, Eagle is close to the heavens where the
Great Spirit dwells.
-Jamie Sams, Seneca/Choctaw,and David Carson, Choctaw
