The popularity and legend of the ivory-billed woodpecker is unmistakable. But, long before collectors shot specimens to study or paint, and birders looked to add the bird to their life lists, ivorybills were highly valued by Native Americans.

There are numerous examples of ivory-billed woodpecker bones turning up in Native American burials and middens, some dating back to perhaps 1000 A.D. Some finds were in areas in which the ivorybill occurred, where it was probably a source of food, but others were well out of the bird's historical range, suggesting it was a valued trading commodity because of its striking bill and feathers. One account by an 18th-century naturalist says that Indians from the north (possibly as far as Canada) traded two or three buckskins for one bill of an ivory-billed woodpecker. It is believed that Native Americans revered the bird for its medicinal properties and its ability to bestow success in hunting and warfare on the owner. Some tribes used the bills to decorate a type of crown worn by great warriors, and others may have carried crushed or dried parts of the bird in a medicine pouch. John James Audubon told of belts worn by Indian chiefs that were decorated with the tufts and bills of ivorybills. The bills and scalps were also sometimes used to decorate war pipes.

—Alice J. Dunn