Mississippi

Mississippi Student Wins Fight to Wear Tribal Regalia at Graduation | ACLU

Published

1 year ago

June 24, 2023

Mississippi Student Wins Fight to Wear Tribal Regalia at Graduation | ACLU

Earlier this year, Merissa Wilson stood before the school board of the Pearl Public School District in Mississippi to make a small but crucial request: that the board permit her daughter, Zuri, to wear an eagle feather on her graduation cap and be wrapped in a traditional star quilt by her family after exiting the commencement stage. As enrolled members of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, these Native American traditions are an integral part of the family’s cultural and spiritual heritage.

Although the burden shouldn’t be on students and their families to educate their educators about these traditions, Merissa thought the meeting went well and was hopeful that the school board would approve her request. A few weeks later, however, the board members informed her and Zuri that they would not relent from the district’s strict graduation dress code. But that was not the end of the story.

Dyleen, Merissa’s mother and Zuri’s grandmother, had previously reached out to the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), which helps students denied the right to wear tribal regalia at graduation. NARF, along with the ACLU and ACLU of Mississippi, sent a letter to school board members explaining that Mississippi law requires public schools to allow Native American students to wear tribal regalia and objects of cultural significance, such as eagle feathers, at graduation. The letter also pointed out that the Native American practice of presenting graduates with a traditional quilt, which is made by close friends or family members and features a star in the center, also falls within the spirit of the statute.

After receiving the letter, the school board reversed course, and Zuri was able to wear her eagle feather and receive a star quilt at graduation.

The ACLU and ACLU of Mississippi (“ACLU”) and NARF recently sat down with Zuri, Merissa, and Dyleen to hear from them, in their own words, about Zuri’s fight to express her Native American heritage at graduation. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Zuri Wilson in graduation garb with her eagle feather.n”,”credit”:”

Credit: Harold Lyle Filmsn”},{“imgUrl”:”https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/zuri-wilson-with-mom-b.jpg”,”altText”:”Merissa Wilson along with her daughter Zuri.”,”caption”:”

Merissa Wilson along with her daughter Zuri.n”,”credit”:”

Credit: Harold Lyle Filmsn”},{“imgUrl”:”https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/three-generations-of-wilson-women-b.jpg”,”altText”:”Three generations of Lakota women; grandmother Dyleen, mother Merissa, and daughter Zuri.”,”caption”:”

Three generations of Lakota women; grandmother Dyleen, mother Merissa, and daughter Zuri.n”,”credit”:”

Credit: Harold Lyle Filmsn”},{“imgUrl”:”https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/zuri-wilsons-graduating-class-b.jpg”,”altText”:”Zuri Wilsonu0027s graduation class.”,”caption”:”

Zuri Wilson’s graduation class.n”,”credit”:”

Credit: Harold Lyle Filmsn”},{“imgUrl”:”https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/zuri-wilson-sitting-at-graduation-b.jpg”,”altText”:”Zuri Wilson showing off her eagle feather during graduation.”,”caption”:”

Zuri Wilson showing off her eagle feather during graduation.n”,”credit”:”

Credit: Harold Lyle Filmsn”},{“imgUrl”:”https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/zuri-wilson-in-star-quilt-with-family-b.jpg”,”altText”:”Zuri Wilson is surrounded by her mother and brothers (Carmyne on the left and Jaikan on the right) after being wrapped in her star quilt.”,”caption”:”

Zuri Wilson is surrounded by her mother and brothers (Carmyne on the left and Jaikan on the right) after being wrapped in her star quilt.n”,”credit”:”

Credit: Harold Lyle Filmsn”},{“imgUrl”:”https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/zuri-wilson-no-cred-m.jpg”,”altText”:”Wrapped in her tribal star quilt, Zuri Wilson beams.”,”caption”:”

Wrapped in her tribal star quilt, Zuri Wilson beams.n”,”credit”:”

Credit: Harold Lyle Filmsn”}]”
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NARF/ACLU: Zuri, could you tell us in your own words why it was important for you to wear an eagle feather and be presented with a star quilt at your graduation?

Zuri: Because the dropout rate is so large among Native Americans, receiving the star quilt and eagle feather makes me proud of the fact that I made it to graduation.

NARF/ACLU: Dyleen, as Zuri’s grandmother, why was it so important that Zuri be able to wear the eagle feather?

Dyleen: It was important to me because I never got to do that when I graduated. It wasn’t something my mom got into because of the fact that she was taken away from her family as a young child [by the U.S. government and sent to a federal boarding school for Native Americans].

For me, the eagle represents strength and guidance. You just get that feeling of pride to know that here I have my first grandchild graduating from high school, and we’re able to honor her by giving her the eagle feather and the star quilt. To see her walk across the stage and then to have that eagle feather, it was beautiful. It hung right by her tassel. It was awesome to see. And then wrapping her in the star quilt, which her brothers did, just made me feel proud because there are so many kids that don’t get that opportunity. I think any child that graduates should be able to celebrate and be honored. Because there’s a lot of them that don’t make it.

NARF/ACLU: As Zuri mentioned, that’s especially true in the Indigenous community, which makes it even more important to allow Indigenous students to celebrate their heritage and faith with their tribal regalia at graduation. Merissa, what did it mean for you to see Zuri walking across the stage, wearing her feather?

Merissa: Seeing Zuri walk across the stage with the feather was absolutely gorgeous, and she walked with her head so high. She knew who she was. She was proud of who she was.

NARF/ACLU: How about the star quilt? What does the quilt represent to you and your family?

Zuri: Being wrapped in my star quilt was an incredible feeling. I felt safe. It will protect me as I venture into the world as I move on. New challenges are going to arise and I will be protected and guarded and it honors my faith.

Merissa: Having her brothers wrap her in her star quilt made me feel good knowing that going into the next stage of her life, that she will feel safe and she has her brothers there and the rest of her family behind her.

NARF/ACLU: Zuri, how did it feel to walk across the stage wearing your eagle feather, knowing that this is an intergenerational experience for your family?

Zuri: Being able to walk across the stage wearing my eagle feather made me feel proud, of myself wearing it, of knowing that I honored my family, and knowing my grandma didn’t get to do that. I know I honored her by walking across that stage wearing it and getting my star quilt.

NARF/ACLU: Stepping back just a little bit, what was it like when the school board initially denied your request to wear the eagle feather? How did you feel?

Merissa: I’m not a good public speaker or good at speaking in front of groups, but it felt good to me knowing that I was able to do this for her. Being able to educate them on what I knew and sharing my pictures from my graduation with them, letting them know where the eagle feather would be on the graduation cap. They asked questions. I answered them the best that I could. I felt accomplished talking to them. I walked out of there feeling really good, like they were going to approve it. The people on the school board were very, very interested. And it was a good experience. I just wish they had approved it right away.

Dyleen: In an ideal world, we wouldn’t have had to go through this whole thing. It would have been easier. We wouldn’t have had to go and ask permission.

NARF/ACLU: It created a lot of uncertainty for you at a time that should be focused on happiness and celebration.

Merissa: Yes, it did. My mom got the ball rolling last May. I went in January to the school board meeting, and it took two or three weeks into February before they answered back. And I called to check up on it. And then we didn’t even know all the way up until, I think, the beginning of April, whether we were going to be able to do it or not. So, it was very cutting it close to the wire.

NARF/ACLU: You did everything right, and the school district didn’t agree, even though there’s actually a state law that requires them to allow students to wear tribal regalia. So, you ended up reaching out to the Native American Rights Fund. How did that come about? How did you know about NARF?

Dyleen: Was it back in 2020 when they passed that law in Mississippi? Whoever it was that got that, big thanks to them.

NARF/ACLU: It was the Mississippi Band of Choctaw, which is the federally recognized tribe in Mississippi, who did a lot of work to get that across. Tribal advocacy was really important here.

Dyleen: In South Dakota [where the family’s Tribe is based], it’s recognized — a lot of schools do it. In Mississippi, and especially with them not being on a reservation, they probably weren’t even aware of some of this. But for the school to just totally deny it without doing a little bit of research and stuff, I kind of understand it, but I appreciate all the work that NARF and the ACLU have done helping us through this. I actually know somebody that works with NARF. He was an attorney, and he put us in contact with them. I’ve got another grandson who will be graduating [from the same school district] and hopefully, now that they are aware, we won’t have to go through this.

NARF/ACLU: Getting back to the graduation ceremony, Zuri, how did your classmates and others react to you wearing your eagle feather at graduation?

Zuri: Graduation was wonderful. There were a lot of emotions. My friends were asking me about my feather and some of my teachers were asking me. Some teachers weren’t aware of my right to wear my eagle feather and were telling me, “Oh, you need to take that off,” when I was in line. They had to go double check with the principal to see if I’m allowed to wear it, and then they would come back and ask me what it meant. I told them and they’re like, “That’s very cool.” They were curious about the culture and stuff like that. And after graduation, this teacher came up to me, and she apologized to me. She was just saying how wonderful it is to see somebody like me being able to do this at my graduation.

NARF/ACLU: That’s wonderful. Any other reflections on the graduation ceremony?

Merissa: I’m super proud of Zuri. It hasn’t been easy. We lived in South Dakota, and then we came to Mississippi. And she’s endured so much, so many challenges, but nothing’s ever stopped her. She’s very determined. She stands up for what she thinks is right. If it’s wrong, she’ll stand up. I just can’t wait to see what she achieves from here. I’m super proud of her.

NARF/ACLU: Do you have any message or advice that you would share with other families who are trying to have their student wear an eagle feather or other important items at graduation?

Dyleen: I think in some families’ cases, it’s a very long process because the schools that they go to don’t understand. Just keep praying and be hopeful and somewhere along the line, somebody will open up their eyes and say, you know, this is really a good opportunity for these kids.

Merissa: I think it’s important just to keep pursuing what you want and never give up. We should be able to celebrate our achievements, especially with the high school graduates. That kind of keeps them going, even if they don’t go to a university or go to a community college. There are resources. Don’t be afraid to ask. I’m so thankful for my mom and NARF and everybody else that helped us get this win. We’re not just on reservations anymore. And there’s other cultures and people that are in our schools. I think it’s important for all of us to be celebrated. Whatever our cultures, however we celebrate our children, I think that’s really important. So just never give up. Just keep going.

NARF/ACLU: Zuri, do you have a message for other students who are dealing with this issue at their schools?

Zuri: I would say to have a good support system behind you and have an amazing grandma like I do to show you and help you and let you be aware of your culture. And just because people aren’t aware of it, you can still show other people how beautiful you are.

Like Mississippi, a number of states have laws that explicitly protect Indigenous students’ rights at graduation, and more states are enacting similar laws each year. Existing state religious freedom laws and federal laws offer additional protection in many circumstances. Visit our Know Your Rights hub for more information.

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Mississippi

As Climate Threats to Agriculture Mount, Could the Mississippi River Delta Be the Next California? – Inside Climate News

Published

5 hours ago

September 7, 2024

Press Room

As Climate Threats to Agriculture Mount, Could the Mississippi River Delta Be the Next California? – Inside Climate News

This story was originally published by The Tennessee Lookout.

A smorgasbord of bright red tomatoes and vibrant vegetables line the walls of Michael Katrutsa’s produce shop in rural Camden, Tennessee. What began a decade ago as a roadside farm stand is now an air-conditioned outbuilding packed with crates of watermelon, cantaloupe and his locally renowned sweet corn — all picked fresh by a handful of local employees each morning.

The roughly 20-acre farm west of the Tennessee River sells about half of its produce through his shop, with the rest going to the wholesale market.

Farms like Katrutsa’s make up just a sliver of roughly 10.7 million acres of Tennessee farmland largely dominated by hay, soybeans, corn and cotton. Specialized machines help farmers harvest vast quantities of these commodity “row crops,” but Katrutsa said the startup cost was too steep for him. While specialty crops like produce are more labor-intensive, requiring near-constant attention from early July up until the first frost in October, Katrutsa said he takes pride in feeding his neighbors.

The World Wildlife Fund sees farms in the mid-Mississippi delta as ripe with opportunity to become a new mecca for commercial-scale American produce. California currently grows nearly three-quarters of the nation’s fruits and nuts and more than a third of its vegetables.

Explore the latest news about what’s at stake for the climate during this election season.

But as climate change compounds the threats of water scarcity, extreme weather and wildfires on California’s resources, WWF’s Markets Institute is exploring what it would take for farmers in West Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas to embrace — and equitably profit from — specialty crop production like strawberries, lettuce or walnuts.

Specialty crops make up only 0.19% of the region’s farm acreage, but their higher sale value allows them to generate 1.08% of the region’s agriculture revenue, according to WWF’s May report, called The Next California, spearheaded by Markets Institute Senior Director Julia Kurnik. She argues that there’s an opportunity to proactively create more inclusive, higher-yield business models on existing farms, preventing natural ecosystems from being unnecessarily transformed into farmland.

But shifting produce growth to the Mid-Delta comes with hurdles: it requires buyers willing to try new markets, understanding of new crops’ diseases and needs, specialized equipment like cold storage and lots of expensive hands-on labor.

“It is not as simple as a farmer simply putting new crops in the ground,” Kurnik said.

Early Adopters Put Idea to the Test

Sixth-generation Arkansas farmer Hallie Shoffner is putting WWF’s models to the test through a nonprofit called the Delta Harvest Food Hub. The hub works with Black and women farmers to pilot the scalability of growing specialty crops in the Delta region, starting with specialty rice.

Shoffner grows basmati, jasmine, sushi rice, sake rice seeds and more on her 2,000-acre, century-old farm located in an unincorporated town outside Newport, Arkansas. She’s skeptical about a full switch to produce, but sees specialty rice products as “low-hanging fruit” easily adopted in the mid-Delta, where commodity rice is already widely grown.

The United States is the fifth-largest rice exporter in the world, and Arkansas is the country’s top producer, with other Mississippi River valley states not far behind. But the majority of specialty rice is grown in California or imported from East Asian countries.

Sixth-generation Arkansas farmer Hallie Shoffner grows specialty rice like basmati, jasmine and sushi rice, on her farm near Newport, Arkansas. Credit: Phillip Powell/Arkansas Times

Arkansas rice farmer Hallie Shoffner runs the nonprofit Delta Harvest Food Hub, which works with farmers to pilot the scalability of growing specialty crops in the Delta region, starting with specialty rice. Credit: Phillip Powell/Arkansas Times — Sixth-generation Arkansas farmer Hallie Shoffner grows specialty rice like basmati, jasmine and sushi rice, on her farm near Newport, Arkansas. Credit: Phillip Powell/Arkansas Times

“We are forward-thinking farmers who want to change, who want to do something different,” Shoffner said. “We want to make more money, because we know we cannot make as much money as small farms in the current agricultural economy.”

The commodity farming that dominates Delta agriculture makes the economic success of farmers largely dependent on the market prices of rice, corn, soybeans, wheat and other crops, Shoffner said. This incentivizes farms to grow larger to ensure they turn a profit even when prices are low, like they are now. But smaller farms struggle to stay afloat.

Shoffner said her vision for developing specialty crop markets in Arkansas will be through more collaboration between many smaller farms to diversify crop production and produce for large contracts together. She’s also exploring possibilities for expanding chickpea, sunflower, sesame and pea production in Arkansas.

And while she’s at it, Shoffner is working to make agriculture more equitable.

“As a white farmer who is a sixth generation farmer, I realize that I have inherited a large amount of land that systematically disenfranchised Black farmers,” Shoffner said. “And it is my responsibility to acknowledge that, and leverage what I’ve been given to help others.”

Her project, Delta Harvest, has a contract to grow specialty rice with a large company and she’s working with several Black farmers. She was too small to do it by herself, so they are doing it cooperatively.

Finding the Right Markets

In Mississippi, efforts to shift some of California’s sprawling specialty crop industry to the Mid-Delta drew skepticism from some farmers—even those with established specialty crop operations.

For the past 20 years, Don van de Werken has co-owned a 120-acre blueberry and tea farm in Poplarville, Mississippi, distributing much of its crops to buyers in his county and nearby cities.

Van de Werken questioned whether there would be enough regional demand to sustain a scaled-up specialty crop industry in Mississippi, noting that the success of his own enterprise hinges on targeting hyper-local markets like New Orleans. Shipping vegetables, fruits and other produce to buyers outside the Delta region would quickly become cost prohibitive for local farmers, van de Werken said.

“The problem we have, not just in Mississippi but the mid South in general, is we just don’t have the population base,” said van de Werken, who is also president of the Gulf South Blueberry Growers Association. “We don’t want our blueberries to go to Maine or Seattle. We want to focus our produce in a regional market.”

To make growing specialty crops worthwhile, Mississippi farmers would need to identify nearby buyers willing to purchase the new products on a consistent basis, van de Werken said. While selling goods directly to retail grocery chains like Kroger is often difficult, farmers could reduce financial risks by signing purchasing agreements with regional brokers like Louisiana-based Capitol City Produce.

“Anybody that puts anything in the ground is already taking a risk, but you want to minimize that risk,” he explained. “If you can prove to the brokers and the buyers that they can make money doing this, then the farming will come.”

The WWF report investigates ways to distribute risk across the supply chain to make selling to new markets easier on farmers, and works to connect buyers with Mid-Delta farmers.

AgLaunch, a Memphis-based nonprofit that guides farmers in innovation, estimates that adding specialty crops to the Mid-Delta region could spur $4.6 billion in added revenue and 33,000 jobs. But while commodity crop prices are readily available on the Chicago Board of Trade, the specialty crop market is generally not so transparent. Large, vertically integrated companies usually dictate contract terms, AgLaunch President and farmer Pete Nelson said.

AgLaunch helps build “smart contracts” that allow multiple farmers to produce on a contract, helping them secure higher quantity deals with proper compensation as a collective.

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Purdue College of Agriculture professor Fred Whitford said the idea of farming cooperatives that help smaller farmers carve out space in a large-quantity market is more than 100 years old. Whitford compared commodity producers to retail giants like Walmart, which make money by selling in bulk. Small producers are more like Ace Hardware, he said.

“Maybe the smaller folks have an ability to make more off their land by going to a specialty crop,” he said.

New Challenges Need New Solutions

Farmers who embrace specialty crops will face hurdles before they make it to the market.

Growing produce can be more profitable but “easier said than done,” Whitford said. “It’s nice on paper … but boy, in reality, you’re going to have to keep an eye on this crop, whatever you’re growing, because one slip up … then you have lost a lot of money.”

In Tennessee, Katrutsa grew strawberries in addition to his other crops for 10 years, but last April, a hail storm pulverized his entire field, leaving him with nothing. He’s not growing strawberries this year, and he might not plant them again — he’s not sure if he can find enough labor to make it work.

He grows many types of produce so if one fails, it’s less catastrophic. He sources seedlings from a neighboring state (it’s cheaper than growing from seed) and plants five times each season to maximize yield.

He works with a consultant to help identify diseases and how to treat them. Tomatoes are the most challenging, Katrutsa said. Some of his tomato plants withered this year due to bacterial wilt that flourishes in wet soil and high temperatures and has few effective chemical remedies.

Carolyn Preble helps out farmer Michael Katrutsa at the farm shop, which stocks the more than 20 acres of produce Katrutsa grows in rural Camden, Tennessee. Credit: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout

Chemical treatments pose other challenges. In Shaw, Mississippi, Michael Muzzi relies on a range of herbicides to grow soybeans and other feed grains on his 2,000-acre farm. Once sprayed, herbicides like Liberty and Dicamba remain in the ground and can drift in the air, which is hazardous to specialty crops, like tomatoes, that aren’t resistant.

“You’re not going to be able to spray [those herbicides] on specialty crops,” Muzzi said. “You’d have to have something that’s chemically tolerant.”

Growing fruits and vegetables on a farm with previous heavy herbicide use would require insulating those crops from chemical runoff — a feat that could only be reliably achieved by leaving whole acres of land unused for years, he said.

AgLaunch is exploring innovative ways to address these problems. For some farmers, this means helping make their existing row crops more efficient using farmer-incubated technology, adding local value by growing specialty crops or taking on processing, Nelson said.

Then there’s disruption with higher risk: farmers can partner with agriculture automation technology startups, allowing them to field test their products and collect data in exchange for farmer equity in the startup companies. If the startup succeeds, the farmer shares in the benefits.

“It’s not as simple as, ‘Hey, we should grow tomatoes,’” Nelson said. “It’s how you think about the whole value chain and make sure the farmer is protected. Make sure it’s not an opportunity just to grow a crop, but it’s an opportunity to own part of the processing or to build new products.”

Kurnik said WWF isn’t trying to recruit farmers to start growing specialty crops – they just want Mid-Delta farmers to have the information they need to make informed decisions. In terms of acreage, row crops “dwarf” specialty crops in the United States. A small percentage shift would mean a significant change in the level of specialty crops in the Delta.

“We don’t need everyone to want to jump on board tomorrow,” she said. “They would flood the market if they did.”

This story is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri in partnership with Report for America, with major funding from the Walton Family Foundation. Disclosure: The Next California report was also funded by Walton.

About This Story

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Mississippi

Mississippi man dies of an apparent overdose in MDOC custody in Rankin County

Published

12 hours ago

September 7, 2024

Press Room

Mississippi man dies of an apparent overdose in MDOC custody in Rankin County

A 41-year-old man incarcerated at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin County died Thursday of an apparent overdose.

Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Burl Cain confirmed the death in a news release.

The man was identified as Juan Gonzalez. According to prison records, he was serving a four-year sentence on multiple convictions in Hinds County and was tentatively scheduled for release in May 2025.

“Because of the unknown nature of the substance, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and the Mississippi Department of Health were notified,” MDOC reported.

The investigation into Gonzalez’s death remains ongoing.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

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