Janurary, 1928 SCOUTING

[skeptic]

A resolution of the Executive Board.

 

Resolved, that the Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America deplores the popular use of eagle feathers in the manufacture of war bonnets as tending top cause the extermination of our National emblem by plume hunters.

 

Therefore, Scout Executives, Scoutmasters and Scouts are requested not to purchase the feathers of any wild birds, but in the manufacture of war bonnets and similar objects to use the feathers of domestic fowls, as suggested in BOYS' LIFE.

[Buffalo Skipper]

Interestingly, this became law, in a variety of forms and ammendments through the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. There is now an Eagle Feather repository, a national collection of feathers of dead birds which is preserved for Native Americans and their rituals, rites and ceremonies.

More on the law can be found here:L

http://www.fws.gov/laws/lawsdigest/baldegl.html

Information on the repository can be found here:

http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/law/eagle/

 

[Tampa Turtle]

I was reading a very old journal article on Florida in the 1920 and plume hunters (who killed the birds in the process)for womans hats was a major cause of depopulating many bird species in the state. Was pretty apparent even then. Apparently changing fashions was what stopped much of the slaughter.

[qwazse]

More relevant to our times: the popularity of rooster feathers in braided hair these days is driving up the price of fly fishing gear.

[SSScout]

So where do they publish the minutes of the National BSA Board? It isn't in Scouting magazine... I don't ever remember reading of any such resolution in the recent Scouting mags...

Now, that might be interesting reading here...

[skeptic]

You probably need to find a copy of the National Meeting material; this past year was in San Diego.

 

Suspect that the resolution stuff is not nearly as common as back in the earlier period.