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The investigation seems like a spy novel. An undercover officer spent a year earning the trust of a Saskatchewan pawnshop owner until she offered to sell him precious - and unusual - contraband: feathers.

This month Linda Bomak, owner of Linda's Pawn Used Furniture and Collectibles in North Battleford, pleaded guilty to trafficking wildlife and was fined $25,000. The bust netted eagle parts worth thousands of dollars, including claws, wings and feathers.

But conservation experts say the case only scratches the surface: A black market for eagle feathers, they say, is being fuelled by the surging popularity of powwows across Canada, the United States and Europe.

"There's a huge new demand for people wanting more costumes, and that's driving the demand for not just golden-eagle feathers, but now bald-eagle feathers," says David Hancock, a researcher in North Vancouver who has written several books about the winged predators.

The powwow trail is a series of festivals ranging from small, ceremonial gatherings to large commercial events sponsored by casinos and listed on websites such as PowWows.com.

Drawn by the growing frequency of events and more lucrative prizes, some dancers compete year-round for winnings of up to $2,000. Many dances require eagle feathers for handmade headdresses or bustles. A typical bustle requires between 20 and 30 feathers.

"In Canada and the Great Lakes region, you could attend at least one powwow every weekend," says Amos Key Jr., co-chair of Canada's largest indoor powwow, expected to draw more than 1,000 participants and 40,000 spectators to Toronto as part of the Canadian Aboriginal Festival next month.

Powwows in North America mostly attract aboriginal spectators and participants. But powwows are also popular across Europe, where people celebrate North American aboriginal culture by dressing in traditional regalia. The subculture - inspired by the Old West novels of 1890s German author Karl May - has spread from Germany to other countries including Russia, Denmark, Britain and Poland.

Mr. Hancock blames the phenomenon on both continents for creating a heightened demand for eagle feathers. Many of the feathers, he says, are coming from Canada.

There have been several busts: In 2006, 11 men were charged after a year-long investigation into the discovery of 50 eagle carcasses on Vancouver's north shore. Last year, a man was fined $5,000 for buying baby-eagle wings from an undercover conservation officer at a Calgary-area powwow.

B.C. conservation officer Lance Sundquist estimates 1,000 eagles are killed each year in British Columbia, and says that number is conservative because of the difficulty patrolling vast, remote eagle habitats in B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan.

But others say the reputations of most dancers - who view the eagle as sacred - are being tarnished by a small group of poachers eager to profit from the phenomenon.

Mr. Key says there has been a resurgence in powwows over the past 30 years, sparked by a growing cultural pride among aboriginals in response to a 1969 federal white paper on aboriginal policy that proposed the assimilation of first nations people.

"It was such a challenge and a threat to our status that in a way it was a flashpoint that just triggered this whole renaissance in identity," Mr. Key says. "It just grew from there - not only politically, but artistically, there was this whole movement."

Many dancers design and create their own regalia, he said. Each one is handmade and incorporates beading, paint, sewing and design that would cost thousands of dollars to buy, he said.

"Now, because of the materials available, it's become regal. The design, the artistry, the colour: To me, it's like haute couture."

Technically, dancers aren't judged on their regalia, says Mr. Key, who has been dancing in competitions since 1974. But, he says, a "kick-ass" costume helps. "It's like figure skating. When you see a figure skater at the Olympic level, you see those costumes. It attracts the judge's eye. That's exactly what's happening with the dancing."

Mr. Key's feathers were handed down from his uncle. To be given an eagle feather is a great honour, he said, because eagles are highly revered and considered sacred for many aboriginal people. Some consider them a messenger between people and the Creator, a native deity.

"We hold the eagle in such high esteem, that that governs you socially about taking their life," he said.

Mr. Key also received some feathers from a friend in New York, who got them through a federally run eagle repository, where birds that have died naturally or accidentally are collected and preserved. Native Americans can put their names on a waiting list, but it can take years to receive a whole eagle carcass, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Some Canadian provinces have repositories, but often the number of eagles is not enough to meet the demand, says Ross Gardypie, who manages the provincial eagle repository located at the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre in Saskatoon.

Last year, 25 people applied to get eagle parts, but the centre received only 24 birds, including five hawks, he said. "We didn't have enough supply for the number of proposals we had."

Mr. Key says the busts are a signal that there needs to be a larger, national repository system in Canada, similar to the one in the United States.

"These people saw it as an economy, I suppose," he said, "because there are lots of dancers - lots of young people wanting to get into dance."