“You Can See Her Trying Not to Cry”: School Removes Eagle Feather From Native Student at Graduation
"Both my kids graduated with their Eagle feathers. This would have been a huge scene."
Published May 28 2024, 12:30 p.m. ET
Outrage has sparked over a high school employee's decision to tell a Native graduate that she wasn't allowed to have a feather and medicine wheel on her cap during her ceremony.
A TikTok user who goes by LakotaWiyanGrace (@teachingaltar1) recently went viral after explaining how a recording of this incident didn't just demonstrate how disrespectful it was to make a student remove the ceremonial garb from her clothing, but that the school worker may be in a lot of legal trouble as a result.
"They're having her remove her feather and medicine wheel from her," someone can be heard narrating the video, where a person can be seen working with a student to extricate the aforementioned items from her graduation cap.
"Farmington high school graduation .... took away the cap," a social media post from a user named Ducky Duckie reads above the video that was re-posted to TikTok. The clip exists as a green screen — LakotaWiyanGrace's floating head can be seen in the video with a finger over her mouth.
The video then cuts to LakotaWiyanGrace staring sternly into the camera. She places her finger over her lips again, stating, "For those of you who are not Native I don't know if you understand what that means," she says, intoning the severity of having the high school grad remove the feather and medicine wheel from the ceremonial hat.
"To be able to earn a feather is a high accomplishment. And to be given that feather to wear is even more. It's cultural. It's regalia. We just don't give feathers to anybody, you have to earn that. And she worked her a-- off for that 12 years to get there," LakotaWiyanGrace tells her her viewers.
"I want to remind people that nobody's allowed to possess or hold eagle feathers, only tribally enrolled people for ceremonial purposes, which this is. So the woman who took that feather and was holding it may have committed a crime."
"The rest of the video you can see her trying not to cry," LakotaWiyanGrace commented as well.
It appears the TikToker's suggestion of potential legal trouble is in accordance with laws published by the US Fish and Wildlife Service: "The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 668-668d), enacted in 1940, and amended several times since, prohibits anyone, without a permit issued by the Secretary of the Interior, from 'taking' bald or golden eagles, including their parts (including feathers), nests, or eggs."
The government agency went on to say that the only instances in which people are allowed to be in possession of bald eagle feathers is if they are a member of a federally recognized tribe and are 18 years or older, and the parts are used as part of a religious proceeding/purpose.
"Yes, only enrolled members of Federally recognized tribes who are 18 years of age or older may apply to receive and possess eagle carcasses, parts, and feathers from the Repository for religious purposes," the website reads.
LakotaWiyanGrace continued to expand on this in her TikTok, stating that in addition to the potential legal repercussions the woman who took the eagle feather could find herself on the receiving end of, the fact that the high school grad's work was being discounted was the primary point of her video.
"Nobody is by law allowed to hold eagle feathers, only Native people are. But what she ... she earned that feather. She worked over a decade to get that. And this is why we make such a big deal of it. States across the nation have been moving to allow Native people to wear their feathers at graduation."
The TikToker went on to say: "Farmington, New Mexico, didn't and they need to get with the times. Farmington ... do better."
Another who responded to LakotaWiyanGrace's post called out different institutions for purportedly also putting a stop to allowing students from engaging in other Native ceremonial practices.
They penned: "Duluth, Minn. school board just voted to not let the Ojibwa band to do a drum ceremony at a HS graduation. This kind of thing is disrespectful to say the least."
There were others, however, who said that their high school graduation experience was much different: "I got to wear my feather on my cap and I wore it proudly, not just for me, for everyone who can’t! My heart goes out to her, she can never get this moment back, that was so disrespectful on them."
Someone else remarked that things are much different in her home state of New Mexico: "Why did they do this??!! I'm from NM, and we are taught to deeply respect Natives there. This lady/school is gonna hear from Deb Haaland I bet," as well.
