Indian and Eagle

Indian and Eagle. . , The Indian and Eagle are highly regarded symbols of Americana. , Prized by the Indian, eagle feathers guided arrows to their targets, and feathers served in civil, military, and religious displays. , To capture these noble rulers of the heavens, Indians dug shallow holes covered with branches or pine boughs, placing bait on top. When the eagle grasped the meat, the Indian burst through the roof, capturing the bird with his bare hands. The adult Bald Eagle attains a wingspan of 6 to 7½ feet, and its talons or beak can easily shred a human arm. So valuable were Eagle feathers, that two birds could be traded for a woman or a horse. , Thousands of years before Columbus arrived, these first Americans crossed by land or sea from eastern Asia near the Bering Strait separating the Asian and North American continents. , Genetic evidence from blood samples and fossil teeth support the notion that three separate treks occurred, ranging from 12,000 to 40,000 years ago. Spear heads and evidence of habitation lie scattered from the Arctic to Chile. Each trek may have had as few as several dozen migrants in it. , When Europeans discovered the Americas, there were perhaps two million Indians grouped into hundreds of small tribes in North America. , Some groups remained nomadic hunters, while others, particularly in Mexico and South America, built cities that rivaled ancient Egypt, Asia, and renaissance Europe. , Ute Indians captured horses brought over by early Spanish conquistadors, and became master horsemen in mountain terrain, gaining advantage over other regional tribes such as the Arapaho, Sioux, and Blackfeet. They occupied these Colorado mountains as their summer hunting grounds. , Decimated by diseases Europeans inadvertently introduced, and by conflict due to a policy of westward expansion by the United States government, Indian population plummeted as their way of life was systematically destroyed. In less than 300 years of the pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock, Indian tribes were forced onto Reservations, and a way of life thousands of years old was gone forever. , J.M. Hoy is creating a sculptural series focusing on America's westward expansion. Indian and Eagle is the first of twenty historical figures in the series depicting Mountain Men, Law Enforcement, Ranching, Mining, Military, and other elements which made up the fabric of the Western frontier. , The tree from which the larger than life hand carved sculpture is fashioned, an Englemann Spruce, was living when Columbus set sail for America. , This plaque was donated by the Fraser River Valley Lions Club