Hawk Creek Wildlife Center is thrilled to be hosting Global Eagle Conservationist Waha Thuweeka a.k.a. William “Two-Raven” Voelker of Sia, the Comanche Ethno-Ornithological Initiative! He will be joining us all the way from Oklahoma for a can’t-miss presentation about the cultural and spiritual significance of eagles during Hawk Creek’s Wild Earth event THIS SATURDAY 5/13!
Waha Thuweeka a.k.a. William Voelker is a proud member of the Ohnononuh band of Numunuh – Comanche People. The progeny of a full blood Comanche mother and a raptor researchist father, Mr. Voelker has worked for over four decades to bring the disciplines of ethnology together with ornithology in a holistic manner dedicated to the preservation of the Eagle in history, science and spirit. Mr. Voelker is the first Native American ever to hold US Fish & Wildlife Service permits for the care and breeding of Bald and Golden Eagles in captivity and the only individual in America to have succeeded in propagating both species via artificial insemination. The world’s first Bald Eagle to be produced artificially is one of over four hundred native eagles produced in captivity by Mr. Voelker since 1974; most of which have been released to the wild.
This guest speaker presentation will take place at 12:00 and 2:30 right after Hawk Creek’s flying bird shows!

Bateleur Eagle photo by Kim Russell

Waha Thuweeka a.k.a. William “Two-Raven” Voelker
Director/Founder
Sia: The Comanche Nation
Ethno-Ornithological Initiative
DBA Sia: The Comanche Nation
Eagle & Raptor Program

www.comancheeagle.org

Waha Thuweeka a.k.a. William Voelker is a proud member of the Ohnononuh band of Numunuh – Comanche People. The progeny of a full blood Comanche mother and a raptor researchist father, Mr. Voelker has worked for over four decades to bring the disciplines of ethnology together with ornithology in a holistic manner dedicated to the preservation of the Eagle in history, science and spirit. Mr. Voelker is the first Native American ever to hold US Fish & Wildlife Service permits for the care and breeding of Bald and Golden Eagles in captivity and the only individual in America to have succeeded in propagating both species via artificial insemination. The world’s first Bald Eagle to be produced artificially is one of over four hundred native eagles produced in captivity by Mr. Voelker since 1974; most of which have been released to the wild. In addition to native species, Mr. Voelker’s work involves field study, captive behavioral research and propagation with sixty-eight species of eagles and other raptors representing five continents. Mr. Voelker is past chairman of the Comanche Nation NAGPRA & Historic Preservation Board of Directors.

In 1999 Mr. Voelker incorporated his life’s work under the Comanche Nation political umbrella and founded Sia: The Comanche Nation Ethno-Ornithological Initiative as an official program of the Tribe. Through Sia, many first time authorizations pertaining to the traditional, cultural interactions between Native People and our avian resources are addressed. Most exciting of the newly issued authorizations is that which establishes The Sia Essential Species Repository as the first tribally administered Native American feather acquisition and dispersal program. This effort is dedicated to the concept of Native Americans meeting the feather needs of Native Americans in partnership with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The repository provides the legal and ethical means for non-eagle migratory bird feather acquisition and possession for members of federally recognized tribes while adhering to sound conservation protocol. The proposal to establish this tribal feather repository was first submitted to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for approval in 1973.

As historian of bird knowledge for the Numunuh, Sia maintains an archive of material culture dating back over 300 years which is housed in a state of the art environmentally pristine facility, a research library of over 28,000 volumes, an historic photographic archive of over 4,600 images of the Numunuh (Comanche) dating back prior to forced captivity and an archive of over 500,000 pages of non-published, historic letters, diaries, field notes and associated documents.