I have an urgent message to share with you but before I do I must thank you for your prayers yesterday during our pow wow. It was one of the most successful spring pow wows we have had. The good thing is that we made enough money to meet all our expenses for the pow wow and still have enough money to take all the workers out for a hamburger after the pow wow. God moved in the hearts of a lot of people and we had an awesome time. One Indian lady came to me and said, "I traveled 150 miles to your pow wow to ask you a big favor. On Monday, I will be operated on and I am scared and need your prayers. I came to ask you pray for me on Monday, that God our Creator will help me through this operation." I did what I could to bring some peace and comfort and then I prayed with her. Keep Susan in prayer as she will have back surgery on Monday. The pow wow went great. It is one of two pow wows we sponsor each year. This is our small pow wow, one day only and attracted about 75 dancers in the evening. Thank you so much for praying.

Now comes the urgent prayer request. As you know, there are many things in our Native culture that are sacred to us. One is the circle we form when we do a pow wow. The things we do within the circle are done with great respect and reverence. Some of the objects we wear in our outfits are treated with great respect and honor and we cherish the honor of having them. One such object is the eagle feathers that have been passed on to us as a reminder of who we are as Native people. We treat our Eagle Feathers with great respect and take care of them. Well, this has been a battle from the beginning. Today, the federal government controls who may have and who may not have Eagle Feathers. It has set its rules and regulations that restrict us as Native Americans from using them in a good and sacred way. Well, in spite of a good pow wow, we have a big problem. On Saturday afternoon, my brother-in-law was called outside the circle by what he thought was a tourist with a question. It was a federal agent who started to harass him and who eventually took his bustle away. As this was happening, I came out and he started harassing me about my roach feathers and told me - without showing proof - that he was a federal agent, and to take my feathers off and give them to him. I asked him four times to show me proof that he was a federal agent but in the process he continued to harass me and threaten me. He told me 'I could do this the easy way or the hard way'. He threatened to arrest me if I did not give him my roach feathers. After the fourth request, he showed me proof that he was a federal agent and then demanded I give him my roach feathers. I told him no and that as a Native American I had the right to wear these feathers. He then demanded I prove I was Native American, which I did. Then he proceeded to take away my brother-in-law's bustles. I turned to him and said he could not take them because those were my feathers, which they were, and that I had loaned them to him, which I had. He told me that I did not have the right to lend my feathers to anyone and that I was the only one who could legally use the feathers. The argument continued and at the end he took the feathers with him and then proceeded to enter the circle to harass other people. I tried to stop him with the argument that this was our sacred gathering but by this time he was out to prove a point and he barged into the pow wow and started to harass some of the dancers and vendors. He eventually left but with a set of bustles and roach feathers that I had loaned to my brother in law. We will be meeting with him on Tuesday to argue the point.

So I am asking you now to pray for me. I need to know you are behind me. I am one man who will be facing the federal government on Tuesday or Wednesday. I have a feeling that unless the Lord intervenes, this will be a long, drawn-out battle. Our tribal chairman will be sending an official complaint to the federal office on Monday, and I have been advised to take this to the local news as personal harassment and discrimination against our legal right to use these feathers. Pray that the Lord gives me wisdom to say and do the right thing when we do meet. If ever I needed your prayers and support it is now. I will keep you updated as things develop. This has not been the first time we have been harassed, but this is the first time they have taken feathers away from me. The bustle that was taken was made out of feathers that were given to me back in 1970, and the roach feathers were given to me by an Indian lady who I helped through the dying process of cancer about ten years ago.

God bless.

Robert Soto Lipan Apache Warrior for Jesus

How I wish I could write to each of you personally to tell you how much I appreciate your thoughts and prayers. It has been a source of peace to my heart and comfort to my soul to see how many of you have written just to tell me you are praying for us. I am no stranger to the laws concerning eagle feathers. As Native people this is the chance we take when one is given. I tell people that if they are not willing to pay the price of the feather not to have it in their possession.

The purpose of my first letter was not to raise anger in your heart, but it was two-fold. First of all, to make you aware of the situation and my desire for you to help me with your prayerful support. The second reason is that you need to realize that when you carry an eagle feather with you, you need to treat it with great respect as a special gift from God above and to be willing to pay the price for the ownership of that feather. Do not abuse the privilege. As a traditional person, anger comes to me when I see Christian Native Americans abusing or using the feather in a wrong and dishonorable way.

The feathers that were taken away from me were feathers that I have had since 1970. I have treated them with great honor and made sure that through the years, even when they were not being used, they were properly stored and taken care of. That is why even today they look like they just came from the bird. They were one of my first fancy dance bustles, so if I do not get them back, they will be missed.

Now I would like to ask you to continue to pray for me. I got the expected call today from the federal office in our area. I am to come to the federal building and meet with federal agents on Wednesday morning. They told me they do not need my brother-in-law any more since the feathers were mine. Now comes the problem. I have been advised by people who know the law not to go to the federal office alone, without legal representation. A good friend of the family will be investigating the federal agent tomorrow and will be seeking advice from a federal officer and some lawyers on my behalf. His advice was not to go until we know his true intentions. So I ask you to pray for me as I seek the wisdom of people who know the law and for the police chief who will conduct the investigation concerning the federal officer who confronted us and took my feathers.

I was also told to file a report with our local police department and declare the articles taken as stolen, since they were taken without a warrant and the proper law personnel. This does not mean we have won the case. Keep this in prayer. This has taken a lot of my time today. This is time that I need to continue our ministry and plans for future travel. God bless.

Robert Soto Lipan Apache Warrior For Jesus

Well, I'm sure that I'm sounding like a broken record by now (that is, if you are old enough to know what it means when one says 'you sound like a broken record'!). So one more time I come to you - first of all, to thank you again for all your prayers and your kind words through e-mail. Since Monday night, I have received about 300 letters from people all over the world. So now I ask you to pray, one more time, for God's wisdom in this matter.

I found a lawyer who has taken my case. I truly appreciate Attorney Art Cisneros who is a born-again Christian and has offered to help us without charge to settle this out of court. We had our first meeting this morning. Now he has to do his research to see if he can find any provision or loophole in the law to help me keep my feathers.

So here we go again. I have known from the beginning that is essentially a no-win situation. We are at the mercy of the law, and the law is the law; and until the law changes, Indian people - both with or without BIA recognition - will suffer the loss of feathers. Because when it comes to possessing eagle feathers, the only legitimate feather is one issued by the federal government to Indians who are BIA card-carrying. Having a status card is not enough. One must possess a piece of paper that states that the feather or feathers in your possession have been issued to you by the federal government. So when it comes to eagle feathers, we are at the mercy of the United States government once more; and only the US government determines who has the right to possess or not to possess one. I have known this all my life since I got my first eagle feather back when I was sixteen or seventeen. I have also found out that even if you are given a feather by someone who can legally possess one, it is illegal. As I have said all my life, it is just one more way for the United States government to control and conquer our lives as Indian people.

My tribe is not federally recognized, but I do have a status card. You say, "How can this be?" Well, our tribe is in its fourth step out of seven I think, before we can be federally recognized. This means the United States government has issued us a tribal number that is used to complete our roll number. So each time a person applies for membership status he is given a number, which is required by the federal government for federal recognition. But since the tribe is not quite there yet, our numbers are not valid until we are in full control of the United States government. Yes, this number does help us in many ways, but when it comes to eagle feathers, it is useless.

We have not given up the fight as of yet, but I must confess, one incident will not change nor bend the law.

So what does this mean to me? What will eventually happen is that more likely we will not have to spend any prison time for the feathers but we will have to pay a fine that averages about $3,000 each, and give up all the feathers that were taken from us. This will include my two roach feathers that I refused to give up because of my rights as a Native American.

So pray for the following. Pray that the fine may be reduced and that God will provide for the need. We do not have the money and it will have to come from above. The second thing is that I still feel that my civil rights and religious freedoms were violated when the federal agent stormed into our pow wow and started harassing people. He said the event stopped being a sacred gathering the moment that we advertised and invited the public. My argument is, what about the church? How many times has a church advertised and openly invited people to attend a special event like a Christmas program or concert or any other special event? Does openly advertising such an event delete it from being a sacred event? The answer is of course, no. So why should not the same feelings be toward our Native American events? While the public is invited to learn more about us, our circle is still a sacred place and a place where we can honor and glorify our God Creator through our dance, songs and prayers. When the agent stormed our pow wow, we were holding the first of two honor dances with a giveaway which I had to miss because I was following him around to make sure things did not get out of hand. So I need wisdom as to what course of action I should take against this violation of our right to assemble as Native people in our circle, which is sacred. So pray that God will direct me to a good lawyer that can handle civil and religious rights violations and who knows the law.

My next meeting with the lawyer will be on Friday or Monday. At that time he will advise as to what plan of action we should take.

So pray for me until Friday or Monday. By the way, the federal agent told the lawyer that if I could prove I was a 'real Indian' he would let me keep my roach feathers. So today I gave the lawyer copies of four legitimate proclamations: two from the State of Texas and one each from two Texas cities. One of the proclamations from the state was given to the Lipan Apaches in Texas in which it proclaims to the state the good we have done in preserving our culture as Lipan Apaches. The second proclamation by the state was given to me and my family and declares us as descendants of the Lipan Apaches in Texas. The other two are from two cities which recognize what I and my family have accomplished as Native Americans and as Lipan Apaches. Sounds like they have acknowledged that I am a 'real Indian'.

God bless you and thank you for your prayers.

Robert Soto Lipan Apache Warrior for Jesus