"A man who started out to catch eagles moved his lodge and his family away
from the main camp, to some place where the birds were abundant. A spot was
chosen on top of a mound or butte within a few miles of his lodge, and here
he dug a pit in the ground as long as his body and somewhat deeper. The
earth removed was carried away to a distance, and scattered about so as to
make no show. When the pit had been made large enough, it was roofed over
with small willow sticks, on which grass was scattered, and over the grass
a little earth and stones were laid, so as to give the place a natural
look, like the prairie all about it.
"The bait was a piece of bloody neck of a buffalo. This, of course, could
be seen a long way off, and by the meat a stuffed wolf skin was often
placed, standing up, as if the animal were eating. To the piece of neck was
tied a rope, which passed down through the roof of the pit and was held in
the watcher's hand.
"After all had been made ready, the next day the man rose very early,
before it was light, and, after smoking and praying, left his camp, telling
his wives and children not to use an awl while he was gone. He endeavored
to reach the pit early in the morning, before it became light, and lay down
in it, taking with him a slender stick about six feet long, a human skull,
and a little pemmican. Then he waited.
"When the morning came, and the eagles were flying, one of them would see
the meat and descend to take it away from the wolf. Finding it held fast by
the rope, the bird began to feed on it; and while it was pecking at the
bait, the watcher seized it by the legs, and drew it into the pit, where he
killed it, either by twisting its neck, or by crushing it with his
knees. Then he laid it to one side, first opening the bill and putting a
little piece of pemmican in its mouth. This was done to make the other
eagles hungry. While he was in the pit, the man neither ate, drank, nor
slept. He had a sleeping-place not far off, to which he repaired each night
after dark, and there he ate and drank.
"The reason for taking the skull into the hole with the catcher was, in
part, for his protection. It was believed that the ghost of the person to
whom the skull had belonged would protect the watcher against harm from the
eagle, and besides that, the skull, or ghost, would make the watcher
invisible, like a ghost. The eagle would not see him.
"The stick was used to poke or drive away smaller birds, such as magpies,
crows, and ravens, which might alight on the roof of the pit, and try to
feed on the bait. It was used, also, to drive away the white-headed eagle,
which they did not care to catch. These are powerful birds; they could
almost kill a person.
"There are two sacred things connected with the catching of eagles,--two
things which must be observed if the eagle-catcher is to have good
luck. The man who is watching must not eat rosebuds. If he does, the eagle,
when he comes down and alights by the bait, will begin to scratch himself
and will not attack the bait. The rosebuds will make him itch. Neither the
man nor his wife must use an awl while he is absent from his lodge, and is
trying to catch the birds. If this is done, the eagles will scratch the
catcher. Sometimes one man would catch a great many eagles."
In his day, John Monroe was a famous eagle-catcher, and he has given me the
following account of the method as he has practised it. The pit is dug, six
feet long, three wide, and four deep, on top of the highest knoll that can
be found near a stream. The earth taken out is carried a long way off. Over
the pit they put two long poles, one on each side, running lengthwise of
the pit, and other smaller sticks are laid across, resting on the
poles. The smaller sticks are covered with juniper twigs and long grass. The
skin of a wolf, coyote, or fox, is stuffed with grass, and made to look as
natural as possible. A hole is cut in the wolf skin and a rope is passed
through it, one end being tied to a large piece of meat which lies by the
skin, and the other passing through the roof down into the pit. The bait is
now covered with grass, and the man returns to his lodge for the night.
During the night, he sings his eagle songs and burns sweet grass for the
eagles, rubbing the smoke over his own body to purify himself, so that on
the morrow he will give out no scent. Before day he leaves his lodge
without eating or drinking, goes to the pit and lies down in it. He
uncovers the bait, arranges the roof, and sits there all day holding the
rope. Crows and other birds alight by the bait and peck at it, but he pays
no attention to them.
The eagle, sailing about high in air, sees the bait, and settles down
slowly. It takes it a long time to make up its mind to come to the bait. In
the pit, the man can hear the sound of the eagle coming. When the bird
settles on the ground, it does not alight on the bait, but at one side of
it, striking the ground with a thud--heavily. The man never mistakes
anything else for that sound. The eagle walks toward the bait, and all the
other birds fly away. It walks on to the roof; and, through the crevices
that have been left between the sticks, the man can see in which direction
the bird's head is. He carefully pushes the stick aside and, reaching out,
grasps the eagle by the two feet. The bird does not struggle much. It is
drawn down into the pit, and the man wrings its neck. Then the opening is
closed, and the roof arranged as before. So the man waits and catches the
eagles that come through the day. Sometimes he sits all day and gets
nothing; again he may get eight or ten in a day.
When darkness comes, the man leaves his hiding-place, takes his eagles, and
goes home. He carries the birds to a special lodge, prepared outside of the
camp, which is called the eagles' lodge. He places them on the ground in a
row, and raises their heads, resting them on a stick laid in front of the
row. In the mouth of each one is put a piece of pemmican, so that they may
not be afraid of the people. The object of feeding the eagles is that
their spirits may tell other eagles how they are being treated--that they
are being fed by the people. In the lodge is a human skull, and they pray
to it, asking the ghost to help them get the eagles.
It is said that in one pit, once, forty eagles were killed in a day. The
larger hawks were caught, as well as eagles, though the latter were the
most highly valued. Five eagles used to be worth a good horse, a valuation
which shows that, in the Blackfoot country, eagles were more plenty, or
horses more valuable, than farther south, where, in old times, two eagles
would purchase a horse.