Project no. 1 (Environment)

A court in the United States has jailed a Canadian Indian for two years for selling feathers and other parts of bald eagles. The man, Terry Antoine from British Columbia, said he'd been acting as a medicine man by transporting dead bald eagles across the American border and bartering with Indian tribes that use feathers or other parts of the bird for religious ceremonies. The court in Seattle also ordered Mr Antoine to pay one-hundred-and-47-thousand dollars' restitution. American law specifies that only religious practitioners in recognised tribes are allowed to make ceremonial use of parts from eagles found dead in the wild. Mr Antoine reportedly faces similar charges in Canada.

Project no. 2 (Environment)

A coalition of animal-welfare groups are suing to stop the Makah Indians from hunting gray whales off the Washington coast.

In a lawsuit filed in the federal court, the groups say that federal agencies did not adequately study whether such hunting would affect the gray whale population or the environment.

The 2,000-member Makah Tribe resumed whale hunts after the gray whale was taken off the Endangered Species List in 1994, but have killed only one whale so far.The Makah say whaling is a traditional tribal activity protected under a 147-year-old treaty.

“Whaling may have been a tradition in the past, but there is nothing traditional about cruelly shooting these majestic creatures with high-powered rifles,” said Michael Markarian of The Fund for Animals. However, two National Marine Fisheries Service studies concluded that hunts would not harm the whale's population.