My husband, an American Indian, once asked if he could have an eagle feather that had dropped from a caged eagle at a zoo. “Absolutely not. It’s against federal law”, he was told, which is true. He has, on occasion, been given an eagle feather by a member of tribes who were allowed to have them, but he passed them on to other Indians.
I use to live on a river and had nesting eagles in a tree not far from my property. They always had feathers dropping around their nest. So stupid we can’t pick them up and put them in our hat.
Kill a baby, no problem. Kill an eagle with a windmill, no problem. Pick up a feather from a living bird, JAIL!!!
I wonder if I would be allowed to possess an eagle feather as a white honorary member of the Stoney tribe. Probably be pushing my luck.