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\r\n<\/P>\r\nA Rosebud Lakota couple is suing a school in northern Nebraska after a secretary at the school allegedly cut their daughters\u2019 hair without permission from the two Native mothers, according to a lawsuit filed Monday<\/a>.\r\n <\/P>\r\nThe ACLU of Nebraska filed the lawsuit<\/a> on behalf of Alice Johnson and Norma LeRoy before the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska. The lawsuit alleges Marvanne Logterman, an elementary administrative assistant at Cody-Kilgore Unified Schools, cut the hair of the couple\u2019s 6-year-old and 10-year-old daughters.\r\n <\/P>\r\nLogterman did so after allegedly finding lice in the girls\u2019 hair.\r\n <\/P>\r\nThe school is in Cody, Nebraska, just south of South Dakota\u2019s Rosebud Reservation.\r\n <\/P>\r\nJohnson said she learned about the incident after school on March 2, 2020, when her 10-year-old daughter told her that Logterman had cut her hair at school.\r\n <\/P>\r\n\u201cI was in shock when I heard her say that,\u201d Johnson told Indianz.Com. \u201cI had to get myself together.\u201d\r\n <\/P>\r\n <\/P>\r\nThat night, Johnson called Lambert and reported the incident and demanded that the school stop cutting the girls\u2019 hair, saying doing so violated their Lakota cultural beliefs. The next day, Lambert called her to say that he had spoken to Logterman, though he offered no details about the conversation.\r\n <\/P>\r\nAccording to the lawsuit, Lambert failed to direct Logterman to stop cutting the two girls\u2019 hair between March 2, 2020, and March 4, 2020, when Johnson received a phone call from Logterman in which the secretary informed her that she had cut her 10-year-old daughter\u2019s hair again after suspecting she had lice.\r\n <\/P>\r\nLeRoy inspected her 6-year-old daughter\u2019s hair the same day and found two nearly bald patches.\r\n <\/P>\r\n\u201cYou could clearly see it when Norma was parting her hair,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI could not figure out why she just didn\u2019t pluck the one hair, just pull it out.\u201d\r\n <\/P>\r\nJohnson called Lambert again to report the incident, but he claimed he didn\u2019t know about the recent haircut.\r\n <\/P>\r\nOn March 9, 2020, Johnson, LeRoy and Lakota elders attended the Cody-Kilgore School District\u2019s Board of Education meeting. They asked the school to return the girls\u2019 hair in order for them to be properly dispose of the hair according to their Lakota customs.\r\n <\/P>\r\n\u201cFor many Native Americans across various tribes, including the Lakota, hair is regarded as an extension of their physical being and can symbolize mourning,\u201d the lawsuit states. \u201c(The two girls) have been taught traditional Lakota beliefs and practices by Alice and Norma since they were very young. These teachings have included the belief that their hair should be kept long as a sacred symbol of their own life and cut only under specific circumstances such as after the death of a loved one.\u201d\r\n <\/P>\r\n <\/P>\r\nThe next day, Lambert sent a letter to Johnson and LeRoy that had a piece of scrap paper with a single strand of hair taped to it. The women never received any other hair from the school.\r\n <\/P>\r\nThe lawsuit alleges the school violated their First Amendment right to practice their religion, as well as the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance, including public schools.\r\n <\/P>\r\nAccording to the lawsuit, the school violated the girls\u2019 rights by treating them differently than other students when dealing with suspected head lice. The school\u2019s usual procedures are set forth in the school\u2019s student handbook, which states: \u201c(S)tudents found to have live head lice or louse eggs will not be permitted at school and will be sent home.\u201d\r\n <\/P>\r\nBy cutting the girls\u2019 hair instead of simply sending them home, the school violated their civil rights, the lawsuit alleges.\r\n <\/P>![\"leroyfamilydaughters\"](\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/18\/leroyfamilydaughters-scaled.jpg\")
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