grey snow eagle house, dreamcatcher 052
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From the pages of Dreamcatcher Magazine: Iowa Nation's Grey Snow Eagle HouseTRANSCRIPT
Also, today there are rules for safety reasons, no tackling below the waist of the ball carrier, in order to avoid leg and ankle injury. No cleats, they prefer to play bare-footed in the summertime and wear light running shoes at other times. We play 15 minute quarters with a break at half after 2 quarters. In the old days, the final score was predetermined or set prior to the game. For instance, if they decided the game would be won at 100 points, they would play for several days or until the team scored 100 points. Each striking of the goalpost with the ball equates to 1 point. Generally, most games were set at 20 points. Also, in Choctaw Stickball, the goalposts were at each end of the playing field and one team had to advance the ball to the opponent’s goal. The defense on the opposing team could tackle the player with the ball; therefore, it took more skill and maneuvering to score a point. The same strategy applies today.
Is your family still involved with Choctaw Stickball? I have been in charge of presenting a stickball exhibition game at theChoctaw Nation Labor Day Festival since 1976. I have not missed a year. Now, my two sons, Bryon Mahli Billy age 37, and Jimmy Chilita Billy age 31, have grown up playing
the game as well as making the kapucha or stickball sticks. They have involved their children in playing the Choctaw stickball game as well as instructing others to play and making stickball sticks and ball.
My oldest grandson, Brenner Billy, is 18 years old and a freshman at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma. He continues to perpetuate the stickball game by incorporating it as an on-campus activity. He has played in many stickball games in Oklahoma and Mississippi. The younger grandsons, Miko, age 9, Trayvian, age 10 and Logan Billy, age 5, currently play in age appropriate stickball games.
Curtis Billy grew up in Broken Bow, Oklahoma with six siblings and his parents, Ed and Cynthia Billy. Under his leadership, Choctaw youth have been playing Choctaw stickball at Broken Bow High School, Inter-tribal games, and in the Labor Day Festival, Tushkahoma, Oklahoma with an exhibition game on the Capitol Lawn since 1977. That same year, the Choctaws won the title in a Five Civilized Tribes Tournament. Curtis is currently employed with the Choctaw Nation Language Department. He teaches Choctaw Language and Culture, and Choctaw History at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
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Grey Snow Eagle House
SAVING EAGLES12
>GREY SNOW EAGLE HOUSE>>
The Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma is ensuring that future genera-
tions will be able to see and revereeagles—considered messengers between Man and the Creator. >Bald and Golden eagles face many challenges to their survival. While the Bald eagle’s numbers have increased since the popula-tion declined in the 1970s due to the use of the pesticide DDT. Today, these threats include a continued loss of habitat, the de-velopment of wind energy and lead poisoning from improper hunting methods. The number of Golden eagles has not increased for decades. And both species face unknown consequences of future climate change. >The Bah Kho-je Xla Chi (Grey Snow Eagle House) was completed in January 2006 to protect injured eagles and increase community awareness of wildlife and Native American culture. The Eagle House is permitted to reha-bilitate injured eagles for eventual release, house eagles that are non-releasable, study eagles for conservation efforts, gather natu-rally molted feathers and distribute them to tribal members for cultural ceremonies and to send eagles out for educational purposes.
John Jernigan
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SAVING EAGLES
John Jernigan
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>THE EAGLE GENOME PROJECT>>
The Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State Univer-
sity signed an agreement to study the genetic health of wild Bald and Golden eagles. The genetic health of animals is important because it provides the variation that allows individuals in a population of ani-mals to respond to new diseases, and other stressors. Without ad-equate variation, populations can become extinct.>This goals of this research are to 1) determine how genetic varia-tion has changed since the Bald eagle’s population decline caused by DDT in the 1970s, 2) determine the historical and current layout of genetic variation over the range of Bald and Golden eagles and 3) sequence and annotate the Golden eagle genome.>By evaluating the genetics of the species, we will be able to provide information that will aid wildlife managers to make deci-sions that will ensure the species are being managed to survive current and future threats in the best possible way.>Native American students are given first choice for the work being done in the Van Den Bussche lab at OSU. Megan Trope (Choctaw) and Jenny Dyer (Cherokee) are currently working on the project.
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>A SUSTAINEDEFFORT>>
As of March 2013, the Grey Snow Eagle House has
46 non-releasable eagles (12 Golden Eagles and 34 Bald Eagles) which are cared for by an Aviary Manager, 7 staff members and volunteers. The Tribe has successfully rehabilitated eight Bald Eagles and released them back into the wild —iowanation .org>The Iowa Tribe continues to pay operating costs and for expansions such as the ICU, quarantine and flight cages, a fresh food supply and video surveillance.American Indian Nations from across the country have also gen-erously supported their mission to preserve a creature that is sacred to all tribes; some have even been inspired to create their own eagle facilities and programs. >Eagles are still not safe; VictorRoubidoux, Wildlife Manager,(top right) explains: “The greatestthreat to the eagle populationwas the change from Endangeredstatus to Threatened status...previously protected lands cannow be encroached upon...eagles will lose their habitat.”>Tours are by appointment only; call405-334-7471. Online, see their facebook page and the Iowa web site, http://www.iowanation.org.
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>BALD ANDGOLDEN EAGLEPROTECTIONACT>>
When America adopted the Bald Eagle as the
national symbol, the country may have had as many as 100,000 nesting eagle pairs. In 1940 the species was threatened with extinction and Congress passed the Bald Eagle Protection Act. A 1962 amendment added the Golden Eagle, and the law became the Bald and GoldenEagle Protection Act. >The Act prohibits “the take,possession, sale, purchase, barter,offer to sell, purchase or barter,transport, export or import, of anybald or golden eagle, alive or dead, including any part, nest, or egg, unless allowed by permit. Penalties for violating the Act include a maximum fine ofof $250,000 or two years of imprisonment. Rewards are provided for information leading to the arrest and conviction for violations of the Act.>For more information check http://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/protect/laws.html>>
A setback for the protection of eagles occurred in
December 2013 when the Obama Administration changed existing rules to allow eagles to be killed by commercial windfarms.
John Jernigan
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