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Eight years ago, California passed a law requiring high schools to allow students to wear eagle feathers, abalone necklaces and other regalia at graduations.
But so many schools — more than half, by one estimation — have thrown up roadblocks to implementing the law that one lawmaker has brought the issue back to the Legislature.
“It’s very disappointing that even after all this time, some districts still aren’t compliant,” said Assemblyman James Ramos, a Democrat from San Bernardino, who’s sponsoring the current bill. “We hope this bill gets us where we need to be.”
Ramos’ bill, AB 1369, eliminates the pre-approval process for students seeking to wear any type of cultural regalia at graduations, Native American or otherwise. Fifty-six percent of high schools allow students to wear regalia but only if they get advance permission, sometimes weeks before the ceremony, according to a 2024 study by the American Civil Liberties Union and California Indian Legal Services.
Schools say they need a pre-approval process — for all students, not just Native American students — because they want to ensure graduation adornments are respectful and appropriate. Students of other backgrounds also occasionally opt for adornments, such as kente cloths, and have to undergo the same approval process.
The bill, which passed the Assembly and is now working its way through the Senate, applies to any form of cultural regalia, although its definition of “cultural” is vague: “Cultural means recognized practices and traditions of a certain group of people.” That ambiguity is why a pre-approval process is necessary, some school districts say.
Native students, their families and tribes say it should be their decision as to what’s appropriate tribal attire, not the school district’s. They also say the approval process is too far in advance of the ceremony; often, students receive their regalia on the day of the event, sometimes as a gift from a grandparent or tribal elder. Showing up at graduation unsure of whether you’ll be allowed to wear a cherished piece of regalia can be nerve-wracking and embarrassing, Native students have said.
‘Proud to be Native’
Jennie Rocha, a freshman at Oregon State University, said she was nervous last year when she arrived at her graduation ceremony at Clovis North High wearing a Comanche stole that the school had initially denied.
The stole, provided by the tribal headquarters in Oklahoma, was inscribed with “we the people” in English and Comanche. When Rocha first applied for approval to wear it, she was denied. But after her father complained to the school board and local media reported on the dispute, the school granted approval.
“I wanted to wear it because I feel like everything I have is because of the Comanche. I wouldn’t be able to go to college without their support,” Rocha said. “I’m proud to be Native and I wanted to show that.”
Although there may have been delays and initial denials, Clovis Unified hasn’t ultimately stopped a student from wearing cultural adornments at graduation, said district spokesperson Kelly Avants. The district stands by its approval process as a way to minimize disruptions on the day of the graduation and screen out potentially offensive adornments.
Not having an approval process “creates an extremely vulnerable position for school districts and hinders the ability of staff to protect students from the trauma that comes from cultural appropriation, or a situation where someone intending to mock or harm a race or culture is able to do so because school administrators are not allowed to validate adornments,” Avants said in an email.
In Rocha’s case, the district initially denied the request because staff weren’t clear on personal elements of the stole and wanted to check with Comanche tribal leaders, Avants said. That caused a delay before the district ultimately approved the stole, she said.
The Association of California School Administrators hasn’t taken a position on Ramos’ bill, but their attorneys apparently agree with Clovis’ stand.
“Districts have to have some parameters, otherwise you’re going to end up with a free-for-all on the night of graduation,” attorney Sloan Simmons said in an April podcast advising the state’s school administrators. “That’s the only rational way to handle this.”
The California Department of Education formed a task force to study the issue. The task force was supposed to create a report for the Legislature by April 2023, but it hasn’t yet. Meanwhile, the Department of Education is advising school districts to consult with local tribes if they opt to have a pre-approval process for regalia.
Trump’s anti-DEI orders
Another potential barrier to graduation regalia is President Donald Trump’s announcement in February that the federal government would withhold school funding to districts that have diversity policies and programs, specifically mentioning graduation ceremonies. A judge temporarily blocked the order last month, saying it was overly vague, and California more recently filed a separate lawsuit to stop the order.
Meanwhile, confusion persists over any school policy that singles out or gives special treatment to a particular ethnic group.
Heather Hostler, executive director of California Indian Legal Services and a member of the Hoopa Valley tribe in Humboldt County, said she’s not worried about Ramos’ bill defying Trump’s order because recognized tribes are sovereign nations over which the federal government has no authority, she said.
The push for tribal regalia started as a way to tout the accomplishments of Native students, whose graduation rate — 80% — lags behind the state average of 87%. It’s also a way to strengthen Native culture by raising awareness and giving Native communities something to rally around, Ramos said.
“When someone graduates, it’s a big deal,” Ramos said. “The whole tribal community comes together. It makes sense that you’d be gifted something for your accomplishment.”
History of discrimination
Other recent laws, many by Ramos, have also addressed the treatment of Native Americans in K-12 schools. One law bans Native American school mascots. Another updates history curriculum to include the genocide of Native Californians.
These laws are meant to help reverse more than a century of discrimination against Native students in California schools, said Morning Star Gali, founder and executive director of Indigenous Justice, an advocacy group.
Until the 1970s, many Native young people were sent to boarding schools where they were forced to abandon their language and culture. History curriculum often glamorizes the Mission and Gold Rush eras, when Native tribes suffered devastating losses.
In light of that, wearing tribal regalia at graduations “should not be a contentious issue,” Gali said. “Our young people deserve to walk with dignity and pride. To deny them that is a continued form of cultural extermination.”
Ethan Molina, a senior at Clovis West High School and a member of the Pascua Yaqui tribe, got district approval to wear an eagle feather on his mortarboard at graduation next month. The feather was a gift at a recent powwow.
But he did not get permission to wear a sash embroidered by his aunt for the occasion. The sash reads “Class of 2025,” sewn in burgundy, blue, orange and red, significant colors for the tribe.
“I was confused,” Molina said. “It’s not political or anything. I didn’t really get why they’d deny it.”
His mother complained to the district and they’re waiting to hear a response. Meanwhile, Molina is just eager to graduate.
“I’m happy I get to wear the eagle feather,” he said. “But I’m also pretty excited about leaving school.”
This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.