Phil Drake: Mayor should be able to keep Blackfeet Nation feather

I felt some sadness the other week when the mayor called me and said he had to return the eagle feather to the Blackfeet Nation that he was given at a Memorial Day ceremony. I was there when the tribe bestowed the name of Brave Eagle on the mayor and presented him with the feather. The honor was given in the wake of the names of 126 Blackfeet men added to the wall of the memorial, which the mayor helped found.

In my interview with Winters a few days after the service, he said he was touched by the gesture of the Blackfeet and told me he planned to mount the eagle with a poem written by his wife's grandmother, Emma Sansaver, of the famed 1904 Fort Shaw world championship girls' basketball team.

He said federal law makes it illegal to possess, distribute or sell eagle feathers.

I can understand the federal laws, but it wasn't as if he was going to stick the feather in a cap and call it macaroni. He said he was going to have it mounted. I truly believe that he would have given that feather dignity it deserved, almost as if it were back on the eagle. I called federal officials to learn more, but did not get a call back.

I know there is a reason for laws. It just seemed like this time it was a little unjust. After all, it was given to him by the tribe.