I have an adopted younger brother who's heritage is First Nations. He really wants to get in touch with his culture and our family is in the process of getting him pow wow regalia all sewn up and prettyfied for him.
I was wondering if anyone knows about the legality of using turkey feathers? We're hoping to feather him up, back bustles and fringes and things, but we don't want to do anything illegal. If anyone had any information or links regarding what we can or couldn't use that would be awesome!
And a bunch of feathers to donate to the cause would also be great (i.e. I've never hunted a turkey before!)
a feather is a feather,, and often when i am walking here in the east kootenays there are lots of turkey feathers around and i have a few for my fly tying kit.
as they are a game bird i would think that if you have the feathers , go ahead and use them.
now if were talking full ceremonial head dress eagle feathers you might get questioned about where they came from, but if they are picked up and collected year after year, then your probably good to go.
Depending on which Indian Band he's a member of, there dress changes from band to band. My wife has made bead work for different pow wow costumes, she just told me each Band has there own colors, and the costumes are sewn together according to the Bands "Spec's" so to speak. If possible try to go on line to see if you can find any info about his Band, and as far as feathers go, if he has his status and the feathers are going on a costume, he can use what ever ones he can get a hold of. I think some guys sell different kinds of feathers at the pow wow's each summer, let us know how you make out.
Well pow wows are generally from out east (where his mom was from), we haven't determined his clan or made much progress on that. But generally people are given their colors when they are given a traditional name ot there. In the bigger picture North American pow wow world people are a bit less specific and regalia for the major categories are pretty similar just with a personal touch.
We're working on making a round bustle for him and a prairie chicken dance regalia. So we're on the hunt for some nice big/long feathers for him from turkey or pheasants. We also have a few friends out in Saskatchewan that said they will keep any crane feathers they get once waterfowling season starts.
Thanks for all the info everyone! Also if you do see an unfortunate raptorial bird hit on a road, let me know, we have him signed up for a permit (though we weren't sure we needed it) and have found an elder who is willing to show how to process the bird and bury it ceremonially.
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