Eagles
Lords of the Air
To the Plains Indians, the eagle was a lord of the air, symbolizing both ferocity and purity. It flies high in the atmosphere where the air is the clearest and where, in the belief of many Indians, the Great Spirit resides. In fact, it was said that eagle feathers brush the face of the Great Spirit. Warriors gathered eagle feathers in order to embody the eagle's keen predatory skills within themselves. Feathers were also worn to show how many enemies a warrior had killed.
Courtesy hmdb.org
