Native American students exercise right to wear regalia at graduation

CEDAR CITY, Utah (AP) — Native American college students in southern Utah donned beaded caps and eagle feathers at highschool graduations this week, months after the state handed a legislation enshrining their proper to put on tribal regalia on the ceremonies.

Utah is amongst a rising checklist of states the place lawmakers have responded to studies of Native American college students being barred from sporting beaded caps or eagle feathers at commencement by passing legal guidelines to cease faculty districts from banning them.

Arizona, California, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota and Washington all not too long ago enacted legal guidelines that both enshrine college students’ rights or bar colleges from imposing costume codes banning tribal regalia. After passing by the legislature, a invoice with comparable provisions is being despatched to Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

Native American college students, advocates and attorneys argue the appropriate to put on regalia to have fun milestones is a vital cultural and religious apply for a lot of tribes all through america.

Copyright 2022 KFYR. All rights reserved.