In dismissing the charge, Downes said the federal government had shown "callous indifference" to Native American religious beliefs. Downes said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service generally refuses to grant permits allowing tribal members to kill eagles, even though federal regulations say such permits should be available.

But the appeals court ruled in U.S. v. Friday that American Indians' religious freedoms are not violated by federal law protecting eagles or its policy requiring American Indians to get permits to kill eagles.

"Law accommodates religion," Circuit Judge Michael W. McConnell wrote for the panel. "It cannot wholly exempt religion from the reach of the law."