{"id":10781,"date":"2015-05-29T21:03:00","date_gmt":"2015-05-29T21:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/jail-time-over-eagle-feathers-one-native-americans-religious-freedom-fight-17402\/"},"modified":"2015-05-29T21:03:00","modified_gmt":"2015-05-29T21:03:00","slug":"jail-time-over-eagle-feathers-one-native-americans-religious-freedom-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/05\/jail-time-over-eagle-feathers-one-native-americans-religious-freedom-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"Jail time over eagle feathers? One Native American’s religious freedom fight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Washington D.C., May 29, 2015 \/ 03:03 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- A Native American tribe leader has been threatened with time in prison for his religious use of eagle feathers, and his case is currently before federal court.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThis is a particularly egregious case where the federal government sent an undercover agent into a core religious ceremony, confiscated religious property, and criminally prosecuted people simply for practicing their religion,\u201d stated Luke Goodrich, deputy general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, representing the leader Pastor Soto.<\/p>\n

\tPastor Soto is a religious leader in Texas\u2019 Liban Apache tribe, recognized as a Native American tribe at the state level but not the federal level. He uses eagle feathers in religious rituals, but eagles are protected by federal law and the religious group is not recognized at the federal level.<\/p>\n

\tUndercover federal agents invaded his ceremony in 2006, confiscated the feathers, and threatened him with up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.<\/p>\n

\tThe operation was \u201cviolating the circle which we consider sacred,\u201d Pastor Soto said in a video circulated by the Becket Fund. \u201cI think if I remember anything of that day was the children running around, and some were crying and some were trying to hide.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIt was violating everything we were as native people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tEagles are protected by federal law and thus their feathers generally cannot be used or sold. However, many Native Americans give religious and cultural significance to eagles and \u201cfederally recognized\u201d tribes can apply for a permit to use feathers that are stored in the National Eagle Repository for religious purposes.<\/p>\n

\tOfficial Native American tribes can apply to use as many feathers as they want, Goodrich said. The burden to become officially recognized is a \u201cbyzantine application process\u201d where a tribe must prove that it has sustained its communal and cultural identity throughout the years.<\/p>\n

\tThis is hard to do when the U.S. government had quelled various native practices in the past through \u201cforced assimilation,\u201d Goodrich explained.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cNobody doubts that this is a real tribe,\u201d he added. The Liban Apaches have made treaties in the past with Mexico and the Republic of Texas, he said.<\/p>\n

\tPastor Soto recently won his case at the Fifth Circuit Court level and got the feathers back. The Department of Justice wants the case dismissed, but Becket Fund says it isn\u2019t over as once Pastor Soto dies the feathers will go back to the federal government instead of staying within his family and the tribe.<\/p>\n

\tThey want the religious exception for use of eagle feathers to apply not just to officially-recognized Native American tribes.<\/p>\n

\tOn Wednesday, a federal district court judge ruled against both parties. No one in the tribe but Pastor Soto can use the feathers, but the case is still open regarding the wildlife law\u2019s application to Native American tribes.<\/p>\n

\tThe Becket Fund will file an injunction for summary judgment in the case, where the judge could rule in their favor without a trial by the end of 2015. If this movement is refused then the case will move to a trial in 2016.<\/p>\n

\tThe case is very important for religious liberty of all Americans, not just Native Americans, the Becket Fund argued. If the federal government can raid a religious ceremony and confiscate materials considered sacred by the aggrieved party, what can\u2019t it do, asked Goodrich.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington D.C., May 29, 2015 \/ 03:03 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- A Native American tribe leader has been threatened with time in prison for his religious use of eagle feathers, and his case is currently before federal court.<\/p>\n

\t“This is a particularly …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nJail time over eagle feathers? One Native American's religious freedom fight<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Washington D.C., May 29, 2015 \/ 03:03 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- A Native American tribe leader has been threatened with time in prison for his religious use of eagle feathers, and his case is currently before federal court. “This is a particularly ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/05\/jail-time-over-eagle-feathers-one-native-americans-religious-freedom-fight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jail time over eagle feathers? One Native American's religious freedom fight\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Washington D.C., May 29, 2015 \/ 03:03 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- A Native American tribe leader has been threatened with time in prison for his religious use of eagle feathers, and his case is currently before federal court. “This is a particularly ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/05\/jail-time-over-eagle-feathers-one-native-americans-religious-freedom-fight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-29T21:03:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Bald_eagle_feathers_Credit_Leo_Reynolds_via_Flickr_CC_BY_NA_SA_20_CNA_5_29_15.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/05\/jail-time-over-eagle-feathers-one-native-americans-religious-freedom-fight\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/05\/jail-time-over-eagle-feathers-one-native-americans-religious-freedom-fight\/\",\"name\":\"Jail time over eagle feathers? One Native American's religious freedom fight\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-29T21:03:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-05-29T21:03:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Washington D.C., May 29, 2015 \/ 03:03 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- A Native American tribe leader has been threatened with time in prison for his religious use of eagle feathers, and his case is currently before federal court. “This is a particularly ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/05\/jail-time-over-eagle-feathers-one-native-americans-religious-freedom-fight\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/05\/jail-time-over-eagle-feathers-one-native-americans-religious-freedom-fight\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/05\/jail-time-over-eagle-feathers-one-native-americans-religious-freedom-fight\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Jail time over eagle feathers? One Native American’s religious freedom fight\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\",\"name\":\"CNA Daily News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CNA Daily News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jail time over eagle feathers? One Native American's religious freedom fight","description":"Washington D.C., May 29, 2015 \/ 03:03 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- A Native American tribe leader has been threatened with time in prison for his religious use of eagle feathers, and his case is currently before federal court. “This is a particularly ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/05\/jail-time-over-eagle-feathers-one-native-americans-religious-freedom-fight\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jail time over eagle feathers? One Native American's religious freedom fight","og_description":"Washington D.C., May 29, 2015 \/ 03:03 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- A Native American tribe leader has been threatened with time in prison for his religious use of eagle feathers, and his case is currently before federal court. “This is a particularly ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/05\/jail-time-over-eagle-feathers-one-native-americans-religious-freedom-fight\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2015-05-29T21:03:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Bald_eagle_feathers_Credit_Leo_Reynolds_via_Flickr_CC_BY_NA_SA_20_CNA_5_29_15.jpg"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/05\/jail-time-over-eagle-feathers-one-native-americans-religious-freedom-fight\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/05\/jail-time-over-eagle-feathers-one-native-americans-religious-freedom-fight\/","name":"Jail time over eagle feathers? One Native American's religious freedom fight","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-05-29T21:03:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-05-29T21:03:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Washington D.C., May 29, 2015 \/ 03:03 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- A Native American tribe leader has been threatened with time in prison for his religious use of eagle feathers, and his case is currently before federal court. “This is a particularly ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/05\/jail-time-over-eagle-feathers-one-native-americans-religious-freedom-fight\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/05\/jail-time-over-eagle-feathers-one-native-americans-religious-freedom-fight\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/05\/jail-time-over-eagle-feathers-one-native-americans-religious-freedom-fight\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jail time over eagle feathers? One Native American’s religious freedom fight"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10781\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}