A member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe of Wyoming whose shooting of a bald eagle led to a major court case is dropping his fight.

Winslow Friday, 25, plans to plead guilty to shooting the eagle without a federal permit after his final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was rejected in February. "The attorneys say that [a trial] would be a losing battle," Friday told The Los Angeles Times.

The case highlighted what many say are the failures of the federal government to respect Indian religious beliefs. Tribal members can obtain eagle feathers, eagle parts and full birds from the National Eagle Repository but the process takes years.

Tribal members can also apply for a permit to take an eagle. But only three have been issued in more than 20 years, Friday's attorney said in a brief to the Supreme Court.

"People are fed with up with the federal government telling them: 'This is what you have to do for your religion. This is how we feel you should do it,'" Donovan Antelope, a spokesperson for the Northern Arapaho Tribe, told the Times.

Get the Story:
Bald eagle case raises issue of religious liberty (The Los Angeles Times 9/21)

Related Stories:
Editorial: National Eagle Repository moves slow (9/7)
National Eagle Repository has 6,000 requests to fill (9/1)
Supreme Court won't hear Arapaho eagle case (02/24)
Indian religious rights cases on high court's horizon (10/21)
Appeals court denies rehearing in eagle protection case (7/8)
Media supports rehearing in Arapaho eagle case (7/3)
9th Circuit won't rehear eagle feather cases (7/1)
10th Circuit asked to rehear Wyoming eagle case (6/26)
Appeals court reinstates charges in eagle taking case (5/9)
10th Circuit to hear Arapaho eagle killing case (11/26)
Appeal filed in Northern Arapaho eagle case (3/28)
Appeal planned in Arapaho eagle shooting case (01/29)
Editorial: Respect tribal religious beliefs (11/16)
DOJ to appeal ruling in Arapaho eagle killing case (11/13)
Judge issues ruling in Arapaho eagle killing case (10/17)
Charges dismissed in Northern Arapaho eagle killing (10/9)
Arapaho man seeks dismissal of eagle shooting case (05/26)
Northern Arapaho Tribe argues for religious rights (5/23)