Omaha South High School in Omaha, Nebraska. Photo by Ammodramus / Wikipedia

A young member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe will be able to wear an eagle feather and plume to her high school graduation ceremony tonight in Nebraska.

The school board initially balked at the request, according to news reports. That surprised her sister, Nicole Tamayo, and other former students who wore eagle feathers during their commencement exercises at Omaha South High School.

“We fought a long time to be able to wear our feathers, to practice our religious rights,” Tamayo, who works at the Nebraska Urban Indian Health Coalition and also went to South High, told The Omaha World-Herald.

Over in Washington, Waverly Wilson was once again told she couldn't wear an eagle feather on her cap. Officials at Lakes High School said she could put one in her hair but she her culture isn't being respected.

“'It’s not an ornament. It's so much more than that,” Wilson told KIRO. “It's representing who I am, and what all I have worked for.”

Get the Story:
Omaha South student can wear Native American plume at graduation (KETV 5/19)
Native Americans protest South High's refusal to let student wear eagle plumes, beads on graduation cap (The Omaha World-Herald 5/19)
Native American student told not to display eagle feather at graduation (KIRO 5/18)

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Delaware Tribe backs student's right to wear eagle feather (5/12)
Law Article: Let the eagle feathers fly at school graduations (5/8)
School tells Indian student not to wear beaded graduation cap (5/5)