Brinna Battles Against Eagle, Apśaalooke.

In traditional Crow culture, men either inherit the right to wear a war bonnet or they earn it through acts of courage and honor, one eagle feather per act until they have enough for a headdress. The number of feathers in a man’s war bonnet is testament to his accomplishments.

Crow women are rarely permitted to wear war bonnets.

An exception is the War Bonnet Dance in which Crow women dance in war bonnets to honor male warriors of the tribe. During this dance, the women are forbidden from touching the eagle feathers.

The only other exception to this tradition is if a Crow man who is entitled to wear a war bonnet gives permission to a Crow woman to wear his headdress temporarily.

Brinna was given permission to wear this war bonnet by her grandfather, Henry Real Bird, an honored elder of the Crow Tribe.

Robert Osborn