Bald eagle’s new status as the official US bird brings pride and hope to many Native Americans

PRAIRIE ISLAND INDIAN COMMUNITY, MN., 7/14/25 – Some Native Americans traditionally bestow bald eagle feathers at ceremonies to mark achievements, such as graduations, and as a form of reverence for the bird they hold sacred as a messenger to the Creator.

This year, many are doing so with elevated pride and hope. The bald eagle is now the official bird of the United States, nearly 250 years after it was first used as a symbol of the newly founded nation that’s deeply polarized politically today.