Described as a “fresh new trend for Spring”, fashionable hair salons are beginning to offer “Feather Extensions” -- actual feathers of all colors, attached to the hair with small crimp beads.

Natalie Angelillo, whose “Swink” salon was the first to introduce the feather phenomenon to Seattle last November, says: “We have a huge range of clients who come in for feathers. From high-schoolers to 40-year-olds. It’s such a fun thing, and people are going crazy for it.”

The photo above left provides an illustration of a current “Feather Extension” offering in distinctive colors. The photo above right is an engraving by Thomas Hariot of the hair feathering displayed by Native Americans in what is now Virginia -- in the year 1588.

So far, there has been no acknowledgment by the “Feather Extension” manufacturers of the inspiration they must certainly have derived from original Native American culture – nor any offer of royalty sharing with Native culture organizations.