A week ago. some parts of the U.S. apparently marked “Bald Eagle Appreciation Days” — January 17th and 18th. I didn’t know such a thing existed. A little Googling reveals that there are different such “Days” in different parts of the country; it appears that this particular date stems from the observance of an Iowa municipality, created by its tourism department to promote the area’s annual gathering of migratory bald eagles along the Mississippi River.
I suppose I was a little nonplussed to read about it simply because, for us, every day is “Bald Eagle Appreciation Day.” It’s such an integral part of our cultures that it’s not even something to be marked; it just is. Eagle feathers are sacred, and treated accordingly.
I’ve written about them (including the ones featured today), and about Bald Eagle, before. Eagle and his feathers are not something that was necessarily an inherent part of every people’s culture or traditions, but like many other motifs, they’ve now become an intertribal symbol: a marker of identity and solidarity and community and the sacred.
They’re also a symbol of survival. As I said on a certain day back in October when the rest of the U.S. celebrates a bringer of our intended genocide:
It’s the symbol that unites our peoples, by which we all are known to others.
It’s the symbol that was taken by the colonizers as their own. Again.
It’s the messenger to the Mystery: Strong, powerful, able to communicate and commune alike with the spirits as it wings from the greatest heights to earth and back again.
On this day, when the world celebrates the colonizer but we celebrate the survivor, it’s a symbol of so much more.
There is no one word that captures it, and that is fitting, since at his best Eagle soars unbounded, free. And so it is with us: No reservation of land or spirit can contain our pride, our joy, our strength, our very lives and souls.
There was more, but the beginning held its essence.
It’s no wonder, then, that the eagle feather is such a popular motif for our artists. The symbolism alone carries great weight, despite the near-perfect weightlessness of the object itself. Add to that the inherent beauty of the feathers themselves, and you have truly iconic, even archetypal imagery.
And so it is with this nearly-matched pair of pendants. These are by one of our young artists, Jeremy Gomez, whose work we’ve featured somewhat regularly recently. He comes from a line of talented traditional artists, skilled carvers and potters. He follows in the footsteps of his late uncle, producing simple, spare, elegant pieces that allow the spirits of medium and motif alike to be seen and heard. From the description of the first of these two pieces, found in the Other Artists: Miscellaneous Jewelry gallery:
Carver Jeremy Gomez (Taos Pueblo) has coaxed an “eagle feather” from stone. An adjustable white deerhide thong holds the hand-carved pendant, fashioned of pale orange alabaster with a swirling matrix. Turquoise-based paint accents hand-made divots that adorn the feather’s “shaft.”
Orange alabaster; blue turquoise; white deerhide
$195 + shipping, handling, and insurance
It’s the longer of the two pendants, only fractionally, but enough to be visible when paired, as shown in the photo at the top of this post. The stone from which it’s carved makes it look very like a mirror image of an actual eagle feather: Instead of a lighter body with a dark-tipped end, the body itself glows with a warm peach color, the tip frosted as though dipped in snow or starlight.
The slightly shorter one, shown at right and whose entry may be found here, is less uniform in color and matrix, but no less beautiful. The flowing horizontal striations in the orange alabaster capture and reflect the light, complemented by the notches in the sides.
Both are deceptively simple and seemingly alike. The stone, however, ensures that each has its own distinct personality, its own singular look and feel — very like actual eagle feathers, which look alike at first glance but are all unique.
Uniquely powerful, too. After all, Eagle is a messenger of Spirit; his ability to fly to great heights allows him to carry our prayers. It’s why we use his feathers when we pray: They send them aloft, to where Eagle flies and Spirit lives, ensuring that our words find their way upon tendrils of the smoke of cedar and sage. Doing so keeps us on our journey’s proper road as we traverse this sacred hoop.
As I said in the post accompanying the photo linked earlier:
Like Eagle, we put our faith in the winds to carry us where we are to go, and always, always, to bring us back home.
Like Eagle, we are, and we shall be.
~ Aji
Note: The photo of Eagle in flight, entitled Being, may be found in the Wingéd Ones series in the Photography Gallery.
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owners.
