Does Hopi Religious Harvest of Eaglets Affect Golden Eagle Territory Occupancy and Reproduction on the Navajo Nation

Abstract The Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) has great religious importance to many indigenous North American peoples, including the Hopi Tribe and Navajo Nation of the southwestern United States. Hopi oral traditions indicate their ancestors harvested nestling Golden Eagles prior to the arrival of Europeans to the region, and this religious practice continues today. Despite contemporary conservation concern for Golden Eagles, no studies have evaluated potential negative effects of religious harvest on populations of this species. We conducted aerial and ground searches for Golden Eagle nesting territories on the Navajo Nation from 1996–2005, and monitored occupancy and reproductive rates of territories in three study areas: one area where Hopi annually harvested eaglets, and two areas without harvest. We analyzed 9 yr of data (1997–2005) using multi-season occupancy models and generalized linear mixed models to test for differences among study areas in occupancy dynamics, and production of early-season ...