Ed WindDancer hopes to continue cultural work

By the Charlotte Sun-Herald

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A Port Charlotte man who was sentenced in federal court Monday plans to continue his efforts to bring awareness of American Indian culture by doing demonstrations at schools and community events.

Ed WindDancer, 51, received five years of probation and a $5,000 fine for exchanging eagle feathers with an undercover U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent.
WindDancer, a musician and dancer who said he is of Nanticoke and Cherokee heritage, met the agent in Tennessee. He said the agent told him he was a Native American whose father had recently died, and he wanted to create a religious object to pass on to his teenage son. That’s why the feathers, which WindDancer had obtained as gifts and from nature after they fell from birds, were exchanged.

“They had someone pretend to be another Native American, so I’m looking at him as a fellow believer in my faith,” WindDancer said Wednesday in a phone interview from Tennessee. “The government’s making it out to believe there was a commercial purpose to this, and there’s not.”

Feather charge

WindDancer pleaded guilty to possession or bartering of feathers of American bald eagles or golden eagles without permission, a misdemeanor, 30 months after the incident.

WindDancer originally faced a six-count indictment that included some felony charges. Only people with permits may possess eagle parts. To obtain a permit, a person must be a member of a federally recognized tribe, and eagle parts are distributed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife from a national repository.

Some Americans Indians use feathers from eagles and other birds for religious purposes.

“This is probably one of the largest Native American freedom of religion fights,” WindDancer said. “They’re saying that you cannot have those feathers, and you cannot practice the religion of your ancestors.

“It’s like someone coming into your home and saying, ‘You can’t have that Bible. I’m taking it.’”

WindDancer’s legal counsel, Caryll Alpert of the federal public defender’s office in Nashville, said WindDancer has never killed an eagle and money was not a part of the transaction with the federal agent.

Educating others

WindDancer said he hoped his legal troubles would not impede his efforts to educate others about American Indian culture.

“I’ve dedicated my life to keeping my culture alive,” he said.

He is currently an associate member of the Delaware-based Nanticoke tribe, which may decide to revoke his membership due to his failure to meet certain conditions imposed following his arrest, said Chief T. Norwood. Associate members do not have to be descended from tribe members.

“I have no ill feelings about them at all. They’re like my family,” WindDancer said of the Nanticokes.