{"id":18521,"date":"2021-11-24T14:26:10","date_gmt":"2021-11-24T19:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=18521"},"modified":"2021-11-24T14:27:28","modified_gmt":"2021-11-24T19:27:28","slug":"cronkite-news-new-law-protects-tribal-regalia-at-school-graduations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/11\/24\/cronkite-news-new-law-protects-tribal-regalia-at-school-graduations\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: New law protects tribal regalia at school graduations"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\n\t\t\tGovernor Ducey Signs House Bill 2705\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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Gov. Doug Ducey (R): Governor Ducey Signs House Bill 2705<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n
Arizona law allows Indigenous students greater cultural expression at graduation<\/div>\r\n
Wednesday, November 24, 2021<\/div>\r\n
By Chad Bradley<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nPHOENIX, Arizona — Just minutes before her high school graduation in Gallup, New Mexico, three years ago, Dakotah Harvey was told to remove the eagle feather from her mortarboard or she would be escorted out of the ceremony and her diploma would be withheld.

<\/p>\r\nHer grandfather had tied the feather to the cap\u2019s tassel earlier that day, Harvey told Cronkite News. He loaned it to her after performing a Navajo prayer in celebration of her achievement.

<\/p>\r\n\u201cI didn\u2019t have the heart to tell him I couldn\u2019t wear it,\u201d Harvey said.

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\"Dakotah<\/a><\/div>
Dakotah Harvey poses with her parents, Sharee Keedo and Henry Crump, at the 2018 graduation ceremony at Hiroshi Miyamura High School in Gallup, New Mexico. Harvey wore traditional Navajo dress and carried an eagle feather during the ceremony. Photo courtesy of Dakotah Harvey<\/figcaption><\/div><\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nTo Navajos and many other Indigenous peoples, the feather of an eagle is an important and sacred component of many ceremonies and blessings.

<\/p>\r\nIn April, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation that public schools can’t prohibit Indigenous students from \u201cwearing traditional tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance at a graduation ceremony.\u201d The bill specifically includes eagle feathers or eagle plumes.

<\/p>\r\nCultural regalia includes hair buns, rug dresses, woven sashes, moccasins, beadwork and turquoise jewelry, including bracelets, belts and necklaces.

<\/p>\r\nNew Mexico does not have a similar law.

<\/p>\r\nA few weeks before Harvey\u2019s graduation from Hiroshi Miyamura High School, officials issued a graduation dress code that banned cultural dress or regalia that was not concealed by the graduation gown. The cap also couldn\u2019t be adorned in any way, which included tying anything to the tassel.

<\/p>\r\nStudents were allowed to wear moccasins, sashes, jewelry or other items, but only if they were underneath the gown, concealed for the majority of the ceremony.

<\/p>\r\nHarvey fumbled with the feather and struggled to untie it.

<\/p>\r\n\u201cThey were trying to take it from me,\u201d she recalled. \u201cI told them \u2018No, I\u2019m going to hold on to it.\u2019\u201d

<\/p>\r\nShe placed the feather between her dress and gown and brought it back out when the ceremony\u2019s prayer in English, Navajo and Spanish began. She carried the feather in full display when she walked onstage to accept her diploma \u2013 even receiving a compliment on the feather from the school\u2019s namesake himself, Korean War veteran and Medal of Honor recipient Hiroshi Miyamura.

<\/p>\r\nRepresentatives from Gallup-McKinley County Schools did not respond to a request for comment.

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Our Miss Indigenous ASU had the honor of attending the signing of Bill 2705 that will allow Indigenous students state wide to have the right to wear their regalia on graduation. Lourdes took…<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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Arizona law allows Indigenous regalia<\/div>\r\nThe Arizona bill, House Bill 2705, was introduced in early 2021 by Rep. Arlando Teller, D-Chinle, who later resigned from the Legislature to work for the U.S. Department of Transportation. The bill was championed by Rep. Jasmin Blackwater-Nygren, D-Red Mesa, a fellow Navajo, and passed in April.

<\/p>\r\nAt the Capitol on September 1, Lourdes Pereira, who is Hia-Ced O\u2019odham and Miss Indigenous Arizona State University for 2020-21, stood at Ducey\u2019s side as he signed legislation that included HB 2705<\/a>.

<\/p>\r\nIn 2018, Pereira and fellow Pueblo High School graduate Maddy Jeans, who is Navajo, Pascua Yaqui and Otoe, successfully fought to change Tucson Unified School District policy to allow Indigenous students to wear cultural regalia at graduation. Previously, special permission was required.

<\/p>\r\nSimilar laws exist in California<\/a> and Montana<\/a>, and Utah<\/a> lawmakers recently introduced similar legislation.

<\/p>\r\n \r\n\u201cGraduation is a milestone and is a ceremony,\u201d said Jolyana Begay-Kroupa, Phoenix Indian Center director of development and Navajo language professor at Arizona State University.

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