How a photographic assignment
 served as the catalyst in the Smithsonian's acquisition of a
 collection of beautiful Brazilian Indian feather headdresses.

			
			

  
			
			
  Photography by Carl C. Hansen
Page Design, Mark-up (and FUNAI pictures) by Laurie
Minor-Penland
			
			

(Designed to be viewed on Netscape)

			

			
			

Nine feather headdresses
were seized by the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service (FWS)
when the importer that had
purchased them from the
Brazil Indian Service  (FUNAI) 
attempted to bring 
them into the United States.

The FWS confiscated the 
headdresses, suspecting they 
were made from the feathers 
of endangered species. They
were sent to Roxie C. Laybourne, 
a research associate in the 
Department of Birds at the
Smithsonian's National Museum 
of Natural History,  who is 
internationally known for
identifying birds by their feathers. 

			
			
Laybourne identified the 
feathers as macaw and stork,
both of which are endangered
and cannot be brought into the
U.S. Believing one of
the very large headdresses 
was a cape, she asked 
photographer Carl C. Hansen 
to document it.

The feathers of Amazonian 
parrots are striking, and a 
headdress made of 100 Macaw
feathers is stunning.  Hansen,
Chief of the Office of Printing
and Photographic Services 
Branch at the museum was in 
complete awe as the specimens 
rolled through the door.  

			
			
While shooting, his 
curiosity brought out the story
of the Kayapo Feathers.  Having 
lived with (and been adopted by) 
a neighboring Indian tribe, he
recognized the uniqueness of 
the group of feathered objects, 
and feared they might disappear
into some government warehouse
never to be seen again.  He 
contacted Gail Solomon in the 
Department of Anthropology
who identified them as South
American headdresses and 
called in Dr. William Fisher.  
Dr. Fisher confirmed their 
authenticity and further identified
them as Kayapo. 

 

			
			
The Kayapo are a Gê-speaking 
tribe from northern Brazil.  
The Smithsonian already
 housed well documented
collections from four Gê-speaking
peoples from adjacent areas... 
the Krikati, Apinaye, the
Pukobye (of the Dolores Newton 
Collection), and Canela material 
collected by Dr. William Crocker.
However, there was only one 
poorly documented object, 
tentatively identified as "Cayapo". 
There were no feathered headdresses
of this form or quality from any 
of the Gê-tribes in the collection.
			
			
  

      Gail Solomon, realizing that good images could assist in acquiring
    the headdresses, acted quickly requesting all the specimens be 
    photographed. Items confiscated by FWS usually end up warehoused
    in Oregon. However, as a result of these efforts, the beautiful
    specimens are now part of the Smithsonian Institution's South American
    Indian Collection. They are not currently on display in the museum, but 
thanks to the Web, can now be viewed here on your computer.