ssions, licensing, exhibition of photographs, and to commission new work: pich@mac.com
sometimes it lands at my feet, ka-thunk!, like a bundle of loot flung from a careening cartoon getaway car.
In January 2009 my friend Annie Proulx and I drove from Albuquerque to Magdalena in central New Mexico to meet with her longtime friends the Bodios–Steve and Libby. Their shared fluency in the nuance of the natural world, from geography to all that populates it, suggested that I would like the Bodios. It was a good hunch. Introductions, lunch of stinky cheeses and other picnic foods, wine, coffee, excellent Russian vodka and stories led us to the falcon hoods. Off the kitchen in a ten by ten room–low tin ceiling jacked tight in place by piers of shelves crammed with books, fossils, tiny bones and skulls, maps–the hoods lay about. Some were high up away from the dogs, some on a desk, others I think Steve produced from paper grocery sacks and shoe boxes. In that cluttered space dimming for the small windows and waning winter light, my eyes skittered from one leather hood to the next, noticing almost nothing else. At every turn were impossibly beautiful ordinary things. I stood, I imagined for a moment, in a sepia photograph of Atgét’s Paris darkroom, “as he left it”–or in Shackleton’s Antarctic cabin. Steve handed me the first of the two dozen hoods, and this project hatched in my shaky hands. So thank you Steve, Libby and Annie for that fine January day years ago.
Seeing early versions of this portfolio, friends (all non-falconers) asked for context. The inclusion of a few historical drawings and paintings is a response to that obvious but brilliant suggestion. Thank you all for pointing out my omissions, and for helping answer the question “Why care?”.
Martin Stupich Albuquerque
further tamed sodozing that it can without a hood. own; the hood's darkexist peace that, when lifted, releases the bright and blazing power of the raptor's eyes and wings.
The hoods used by the Kazakhs and Kirghiz of Central Asia, the Widelyfalconry misunderstood hood is an oldest cultures,and areweirdly the mostbeautiful, practical,the asfalconer’s are their trainers ancient toolflown that may as on long the practice of falconry, (the eagles therehave stillexisted put meat theastable, hides under possibly for 6000 years. of anyoneorwho sees garments, and protect theHoods flock).attract They the use eye no “braces”, tightening them, or leastbeanyone who canfor see. (Someone who wasThey looking at straps, soatmust fitted exactly each individual bird. two hoodedare hawks wearing plumed Dutch hoods once asked sometimes adjusted if they are switched to another eagle. me Onehow of theyhoods couldinsee socollection well with has sucha tiny I realized thataround she was the this bandeyes; of cloth wrapped the staringstrap at their circular nostrils, in the beak eagle outside theppmouth piece of throat to make it fit a slightly smaller (see 30-31). the hood.) And an acquaintance, the Kazakh naturalist Yuri Shelkaev once described to me how he was arrested at an ecological conference An even stranger practice than covering a bird’s head with a leather in Brazil for, as he said, “putting a cap on a sick parrot” (he was hat, one that seems crueler to the Western mind, may or may not have carrying a trained Kazakh eagle with a hood on its head). preceded hooding and is still used by some Eastern cultures in conjunction with it. In “seeling”, a needle with silk thread is drawn Others equate the hood, theinjesses, through the lower eyelidor offor thethat birdmatter and tied a bowthe onshort top ofleg the straps head wornto byatrained birds even when witheyelid. cruelty, bird’s thread coming from the they otherfly, lower In even the first some sort of sadomasochistic bondage gear.the A parrot once days of training the eyes are left shut; then trainertrainer gradually berated me “shackling” myathawks, thatIndian she loosens the for bowhooding to let inand a little more light a time.saying Arab and would never such claim a thingthat to the her birds parrots. mycalmer hawksascould advocates of do seeling areThat much therefly is free for miles while her parrots never escaped human enclosures did no pressure from an odd object appearing around their heads. In fact, notthese seemcultures, to botherhood her. training In realityishoods lessbirds about domination in startedare with that are still than peace and calm, way tothat mediate the entry a wild, frightened, seeled. They alsoa claim it is kinder thanofimmediately hoodingand ferocious living the thing intoand the utterly social company and frightening birds, painless. of an alien species, so it may lose its fear of them and begin to act again like a wild bird, accepting them into the company of the hunt. The hood’s advantages Seeling was practiced in Europe–it is mentioned in the Medieval are so great that it probably appeared almost as soon as falconry did. manual of Emperor Frederick II, and in Dante. It is now mainly The way to a falcon’s heart may be more through its eyes than its practiced in greater Arabia. As Arabian birds tend to be extremely stomach; its two eyes weigh considerably more than its brain. tame, there may be something to it. Speaking strictly for myself, the manipulation of a needle around a bird’s eye frightens me far more Falconry probably started, as did horsemanship, hunting with running than it probably does the bird. dogs, and with the domestication of the apple and the pigeon, in Central Asia, perhaps in the foothills of the Tian Shan, where it is still During most of the history of falconry, despite modern assumptions, practiced. From there it spread east and west: east through China to most birds used were wild caught adults, either as first year migrants Korea and then to Japan, west into Russia and along the Silk Road, (“passagers”) or full breeders more than a year old (“haggards”). whence it arrived in both Europe and Arabia (the similarity of Behavioral triggers that can make birds taken as babies intolerable, European and Arabian hoods may be an indication that there has been an exchange of artifacts between these seemingly inimical cultures at
ehat Kazakhs he waswho, a practitioner to this day, rather preferthan birds just taken an observant as nestlings if adsociety to pursue when unnaturally falconry was largecommon. quarry like Whenever deer or wolves. he speaks g it is with a suggestion that hooding calms, that unhooding ite, release or reveal. In Henry V, Act III, Scene 7, the alconers often start with nestlings. If you do, difficulty in of France, speaking of the valor of the Dauphin says: “Tis s a non-issue - you merely plop an oversized hood on the valour, and when it appears it will bate…” (jump forward, ball sitting on your coffee table before and after meals, and it Romeo and Juliet, Act III Scene 2, he says “Hood my ust one more peculiar habit practiced by its clumsy, flightless blood, bating in my cheeks” (an unmanned hawk would . in Anthony and Cleopatra, “The wise gods seel our eyes”.
ht birds are a different matter. You should hood your bird ely upon taking it from the net or trap. Following this, you od andcertain unhoodthe your constantly through its first lmost firstbird hoods were Kazakh types, cut week in a of hena everything shocking and sewn new. Such a bird usually om single pieceisof leather and in front to form points ooding well, as it givesthat a refuge from allthen theknown strangeassounds yes. History suggests such hoods, and horrors of this new environment. As Macbeth says, oods”, were also used in India until its eling night/Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day.” th the West during the British Raj. Rounder European ultures, along with seeling, often offer a longer and more own as “Dutch” hoods because there were many made by ed process of “manning”, at least if their falconry is a luxury od-makers, and the Arabian hoods, which differ chiefly in n a necessity. The always-pragmatic Kazakhs are notoriously accordion-style folding back - both used a set of four short ners, using such practices as swaying, hammock-like perches he back (actually two straps passing through the back and ng on horseback to keep the birds off-balance and extremely at either end) to open and close the hood. This arrangement arn. ly more secure--you could leave a hawk alone with less its unhooding itself--and fit a slightly larger range of ofhawks. the Indian subcontinent, whose falconry sport and art But made of three pieces, it could is beaheavy nh acentury necessity, can sometimes an approach seems innovators in both take Europe and India that combined ngly slow. Afghan prince ps with the Sirdar lighterMohammed Indian hoodOsman, to form an theaged so-called xile DehraRefinements Dun, India, wrote metoday. anxiously abouthoods my dian”inhood. continue But most goshawk, adding a refinement I have notpiece heardwith of elsewhere: the Kazakh type are either made of one pointed r the eyes, or of pieces with rounded eye panels, usually n note a form while wet.that Themay onlybeexception I know is the rare a few points of interest. Remember, the ood fordays the “Hare-tiger” a practical but almost or five are crucial. A(saker), very gentle approach is essential. y ornate with decorative spirals over the has got toconcoction be acclimatized. Use an Anglo-Indian typeeye of atticed like a Samurai helmet, plume of has twoneck tiny guard holes punched into the leatherand in afront of the a horse’s mane (see pp 65-67). yes. To begin with, these two holes can be stopped with a
acing paper. This way the hawk has some dull light filtering e tracing direct visibility is possible. Holes ese hood ispaper, one ofbut thenolast made by an 80-year-old earlier must be gradually dilated every day until almost in central China, given to me by English eagler Allen nugh is accepted by the hawk. MustIbe finally on the it is theoretically practical, only put itunhooded on my birds for and remain that way until it is fully trained.”
An most internet of hood search buyers will must findconsider you better, theirmore cost.beautiful, The simplest or athoods least to make are fancier hoods the Anglo-Indian than any I own. types. I can do a clumsy job on one myself, though aesthetically I prefer that friends with more skill do it for me. But in an emergency, you can cut and glue one, and make it in an hour But I am content with my working man’s grab bag of hoods. In it I or two –I’d advise any apprentice to learn how to do so. Three piece can usually find one to fit any bird I may come across. Their so-called “Dutch” hoods are considerably more difficult to make. They paradoxical utilitarianism and elegance, traits found in any working are sewn with minute stitches on the inside of the panels, soaked, and hood, are only embellished by their age, wrinkles, water spots, tooth blocked on individual forms of plaster or wood, of which there are and claw marks, above all the stories that those “blemishes” recall. I approximately thirty sizes. Not everyone can make a Dutch hood, find it interesting that any falconer in history might say the same. never mind. Working hoods range from the plain to the fairly ornate–the Chinese Stephen hood is a working hood. Craftsmen can seldom resist the urge toBodio embellish a working object that is essentially aesthetic, be it a Clovis point, a Best London shotgun, or a hawk’s hood. Even the plainest of hoods has the practical sculptural honesty of a helmet. In the late 20th century a class of what might be called decadent hoods has appeared, made mostly by European craftsmen for sheiks in the Gulf of Arabia. Studded with diamonds, gold, and sapphires (a non-working example was even made of platinum), some are worth as much as $30,000. Such hoods lack the dignity of the most battered Kazakh eagle hood in my collection. This so-called “collection” is a purely random lifetime’s accumulation of hoods, all used by birds that hunt; most are plain, a few ornate. I should add that the seemingly purely decorative “plume” on top of the hood, be it a puff of feathers on a Dutch hood, a Turkish knot, a simple tab on a Kazakh eagle hood, or the horsehair flourish on the Chinese hood, is actually a practical handle - without it, it would be very hard to put the hood on or take it off. These are all good hoods, maybe a few great hoods, but except for the fantastic Chinese example, they are a rather poor man’s random lifetime accumulation. It took Martin Stupich’s photographs to show me the inherent beauty in my own hoods, something I often took for granted - and that I could not see myself. Paradoxically, there are probably more good hood makers working today than at any time in history, when most any falconer other than the Kazakhs of Mongolia
16 the huge with The female flatter shape Berkuhood of thisonhood pages means twenty-two it was made and 65.40 for a This Goshawk is currently (often leftmy unhooded, only Dutch as Ihood said in with thethe essay) traditional or a Harris’s featherhawk. topping. Hoods Youfor use this a handle, and Irounded. find leather more practical. But it is a bit lighter, true as falcons are more more comfortable for a 10 oz bird. 17 This hood is a typical Arabic hood for a bird the size of a Peregrine Trivia: thefalcon, plumesmade are from by American old English David game Maple. fowl, “fighting Arabic hoods cocks”. usedThey the same are also “braces” used inas fly-tying westernashoods they are to open stifferand andshut. moreYou durable pull onthan the those shorter of ones to open, the longer–much longer and without button ends in Arabic “dunghill” roosters. hoods–to close. But the back of the hood comes down to the bird’s nape in accordion folds 36 Although unlike it looks the open exotic, slit back it opens of Dutch like a hoods typical(pages Dutch 35-38) hood. or the Anglo-Indian hoods (pages 18-20). I have never decided which works better. SomeThe 37 birds Khan-hood seem to prefer from hood the closed makerback; Ken Hooke, others seem basedtoI find believe it on an old Asian design. He is the only one making it. This one is for a male irritating. Gyrfalcon-Saker cross. 18-21 A flashier new commercial eagle hood from Bayaan Olgii, the 42 NoticeofallMongolia. the seams are glued; not a stitch in it. I like it that in a Kazakh province pinch I can make my own, but I prefer the works of my betters! 22 A Dutch hood with long closing braces by, Bryant Tarr. I like those because you have to Maple use oneAnglo-Indian, hand and your to close the hood 49 Another David forteeth a large falcon. when the bird is on your fist. 53 You can see how the braces curl and slide ingeniously past each 23 Another view.real Theadvance stitchinginishoods invisible; My tooth other–probably the only in 6000 years.marks on the brace are more obvious. 55 The edged lines of the Anglo-Indian hood look more martial 24 the rounded than Suleiman’s ones Kazakh-Mongolian of the Dutch. A “feathered” hood, view warriors of the front helmet. andThis side.is another martial helmet from David Maple, for a large female falcon like a 25 The same Suleiman Kazakh hood; this may be close to the Gyr. ancestral hood. 57 The same hood–fierce lines–almost like armor. 26, 27 A commercial Dutch hood from the Gulf. It fits my current little 58 An “oldie but goodie”, a classic Dutch I have Peregrine well. Such hoods are pretty, but they are three often piece madehood. of flimsier leather had thisthan hoodthe forolder aboutones 30 years, in my collection. using it on Tourists male Peregrines now come and to similar the annualI eagle birds. haven’t festival the slightest in Bayaan ideaOlgii, who made and there it, butishe a market was a craftsman! for such hoods. The I doubtskin lizard theypanels are individually are real, not fitted. embossed. 59 28 This Kazakh-style Notice the stitching, hood done is entirely of a sizeon forthe a goshawk inside. And rather the braces– than an Ieagle. replaced A new theKazakh-style old leather with hood. super-durable Gor-tex. 30 62 A It new was in Kazakh-style the late winter hood, of front 1997.view. I wasThe sitting, maker to is mya total young amazement, Kazakh craftsman, in the living Kharin room Narbek. of a Kazakh He makes master falconry Falconer, “furniture”, Suleiman, horse in tack,westernmost the handbags and tip of belts, Mongolia, all excellent as heand queried original. me on falconry. Was I for
Allah’s blessing on our vodka!” He asked me to show him how my falcons 76 chase a hare. MyI current mimed afalcon rolling is strike a Barbary-Taita at a slant, across–essentially recovery, a slasha from “pocket the other side. rocket” mixHe of nodded two distinct his approval, types close and to went Peregrines: to a desk a mini-peregrine where he retrieved for this hood. It is aShe relatively hood, for the smaller male eagle, and is the dove and quail. wears small this hood. only male’s hood I have seen in Mongolia or Kazakhstan (another 79 is an utterly Dutch hood by ).Paul Domski. But MongolianItfalconer said typical “males working are for hunting mice!” though this bird is smaller even than a very small male Peregrine, she has a 63 head, I The thatand interests about Suleiman’s big hopeother full ofthing brains, takes me a full-size Peregrine hood hood.is that its detailing with raised ridges and stamped panels is better than that of any 82 Anhood Anglo-Indian hood byisDavid Maple, for a bird the size of a other Kazakh I own. Suleiman an artist. Red-tailed hawk. They are called Anglo Indian because they combine the braces of a Looking western at hood theSuleiman’s one piece hood. design and shape of the old 65 thewith top of Asian hoods now used mostly Kazakhs and Kyrghiz. 66 David Edwards, the National Geographic photographer, gave me 85 the ornate tooling the eagle, similarity in shapeI have to theseen. this batteredNote Mongolian hood for aand female the largest braceless Mongolian Kazakh hoods. 67 Canat Cheryasda, friend and my Mongolian guide for years, calls the attached 88 As you stick can see a “silencer”. by the stamp When inside, the this falconer was made is calling for aamale fox he wants his be silent, but Kazakh eagles are mostly taken as Harris, buthooded I used eagle it on atomale Goshawk. nestlings and retain a baby’s chirp–especially when hooded. T Just kind of “striking” stick 89 This is presses a rather on roughly the eagle’s made esophagus hood. If just I were enough to usetoitquiet I would the widen thebut hole the beak considerably. But I cherish it because it was chirping notfor enough to block air. made for me by Sirdar Mohamed Osman, an Afghan prince in exile in 68 Dehra DunThe in the same Himalayan hood; “the foothills. storiesHe it could is almost tell”.ninety This bird yearswould old and have author one of the best modern been bigofenough to tackle wolves.falconry books, In the Land of the Sun, which I helped edit. He has flown everything from Merlins to eagles at one 69 or another The rarest in my collection, a Chinese “tu hu” hood for a time in his hood long life. saker falcon or “hare tiger”. With horsetail plume and vivid decorations they are theThis 93 mostbattered complexbut hoods still made functional today. Arab-style England’s(but Al Gates, American whomade) travelswas theused world exotic falconry gave me this hood, hood forseeking my lastout Gyr-Saker and mayand be who by my next. says there is only one maker left, and he is in his 80s with fading eyes. Ken 97 He was a hoodanscratcher, though neveris ducked it when I put it Hooke in Saskatchewan, innovative hood he maker, planning a revision. on him. His marks remain long after his loss. 71 The back of the Chinese hood looks like a samurai helmet out of a Kurosawa film–Throne of Blood. • 73
A “commercial” Arab hood from the Persian Gulf.
72 This hood is sized for a male Peregrine or perhaps a Barbary Falcon. These hoods are cheap and surprisingly good, though the leather of the braces often breaks and needs replacing.
CALM
STEPHEN BODIO
MARTIN STUPICH