Two rehabilitated eagles return to the wild during the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival

Two rehabilitated eagles were reintroduced to the wild this weekend during the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival’s Flight for Freedom event. The eagles were released at Klukwan’s Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center during a ceremony that included singing, dancing and storytelling.

On a crisp Saturday afternoon, a group of bird watchers, photographers and nature lovers from around the world gathered along Klukwan’s snowy river bank. They gaze out over the Chilkat  River at a cluster of brown feathered figures perched in the trees.

Julie Flagg came here all the way from Reno, Nevada. She’s been coming to the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival for years with her friends Natalie Bradford and Chris Carte from Juneau. Flagg said back home the wildlife isn’t nearly as beautiful.  

“Well, the wild stuff we have is mostly stupid people,” Flagg said.

Over the past week the past week the trio has been visiting different spots along the Chilkat River, trying to snag the perfect photo of the U.S. national bird. Flagg said she is always struck by how observant the Eagles are.

“They watch us as much as we watch them They’ll be looking at you, and you know they’ve got a secret so you just have to figure it out. They’re probably thinking, ‘You fools!’” Flagg said.

Every November, thousands of eagles flock to the Chilkat Valley to gorge themselves on a late run of chum and Coho salmon. For 24 years, Haines has marked the yearly event with the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival.

But eagles have been celebrated by people in the Chilkat Valley long before the festival began.

During the Flight for Freedom event on Saturday, Lani Hotch, the Executive Director of Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center, explained that the eagle is an important part of Tlingit people’s social structure. Hotch said that in her culture people have always been organized in two social groups: eagles and ravens. This is part of their collective identity.

“We belong to either the eagle or the raven. We belong to a house group. We belong to a family. That’s part of our worldview. We don’t think of ourselves as just one individual,” Hotch said.

Over the years it has become a tradition to release rehabilitated eagles into the wild during the festival. Sidney Campbell, the American Bald Eagle Foundation’s Raptor Center Program Manager facilitates an auction where people can bid to release the eagles themselves. The money from the auction helps fund the programs on offer at the foundation as well as rehabilitation services provided by the Anchorage non-profit Bird Treatment and Learning Center.  

This year two birds were up for bid: a juvenile and a subadult. The juvenile had tried to leave its nest, but was unsuccessful and was found on the ground nearby before it was sent to Bird TLC. It has never flown in the wild before. The subadult, on the other hand, was injured near Soldotna and is returning to the wild after treatment.

After the auction, Hotch and the Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Dancers begin to sing and dance as the crowd makes its way to wooden crates where the eagles are being held.

When the crowd quiets down, the winning bidder, Jessica Read, flings open the door of the crate and the subadult eagle begins to fly. With each beat of the wing it grows more confident. Some spectators can’t help but shed a few tears as the eagle flies off into the sun.

Corrections: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the songs and dances performed at the Flight for Freedom event were performed by the Chilkat Dancers. The songs were performed by the Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Dancers. The article also stated that Sidney Campbell was the Outreach Coordinator for the American Bald Eagle Foundation. Campbell is the Raptor Center Program Manager.