The Pope’s decision to accept a traditional indigenous feather headdress while in Canada was not really surprising. After all, nothing of this sort can come as a shock after seeing our Pope publicly honour Pachamama back in 2019.

To the mournful melody of indigenous Indian chanting – the meaning of which no one knows – two American Indian men, wearing traditional blue jeans, presented the Pope with the head dress.

As with Australian Aboriginal ceremonies, there are secrets surrounding the meaning of the feather head dress and its bestowal. From what can be gleaned online, this kind of attire is a reward for warriors who, after earning the individual feathers for their acts of bravery and wisdom, have finally gathered enough to have a head dress made. That all sounds very prestigious and honorific, and consistent with the respect shown to a visiting head of state.

However, also gleaned from the online descriptions is the underlying notion that the feathers contain the ‘eagle spirit.’ If a head dress accidentally touches the ground, the Indians believe a special ritual needs to be performed in order to return the ‘eagle spirit’ to the head dress.

The eagle is sacred to the native Americans, because they believe that bird takes their prayers to the Great Spirit. It would be nice to think that this ‘Great Spirit’ is identical with God the Father, and that we all believe in the same God and that everything is peachy because everyone is taking different paths on the same journey and all of that.