A self-proclaimed medicine man at the center over non-Indian use of peyote has been charged with unlawful possession of eagle and other bird feathers.

Nicholas Walter Stark is a founder of the Oklevueha Earthwalks Native American Church. He had been charged with possession of peyote and coca leaves after state officials raided the church and seized 12,000 peyote buttons.

Those charges were dropped when the Utah Supreme Court said any member of the church, regardless of federally-recognized status, can possess and use peyote. Stark claims some form of Iroquois ancestry.

Get the Story:
Charges filed against man who had eagle feathers (The Salt Lake Tribune 3/21)

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