In 1913, W. T. Hornaday, director of the New York Zoo-logical Society, published a book titled Our Vanishing Wildlife: Its Extermination and Preservation, in which he reported that the world's exotically
colored birds were being harvested to satisfy the exploding taste for feathered hats at a rate that
threatened the extinction of hundreds of species worldwide. The Cara Grande feathered mask makes
use of the same feathers that attracted Western feather hunters to the Brazilian jungles—and if feathered
hats had remained in fashion, it is doubtful that the birds whose feathers make up the mask would have
survived. How might the Tapirapé be justified in their use of these feathers in a way that the millinery
industry is not? Should the source of materials be a consideration in evaluating art?