New Mexico school confiscates a Native student's beaded graduation cap, sparking protests

Farmington High School officials confiscated Genesis White Bull’s beaded graduation cap as she and her classmates stood for the national anthem during their May 13 graduation, a move that sparked an outcry and a movement among the Indigenous community.

Nearly a week later, the anger hasn’t subsided, only grown in volume. On Saturday, a large group of supporters for White Bull and her mother, Brenda White Bull, took to the Farmington streets and marched to the high school where Genesis had graduated less than a week before.

“To our youth out there, you have so much power in these buildings,” Brenda White Bull told the crowd Saturday in front of Farmington High School. “These buildings belong to you. They don’t belong to the administration. They are there to help, guide and protect you.”

Navajo Nation first lady Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren attended the rally, along with former North Dakota state Rep. Ruth Buffalo, New Mexico Sen. Shannon Pinto, Navajo Nation Council Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty, members of the American Indian Movement Diné Bikéyah and hundreds more people.

“I think it's enraging. It’s heartbreaking to know that they are still trying to erase our culture and who we are as a people,” Aaliyah Gonzalez said.

She is also originally from Farmington, graduated from Piedra Vista High School in 2020 and recently graduated from Northern Arizona University. Piedra Vista High School along with Farmington High School are both part of the Farmington Municipal School District.

“It’s very inspiring we all showed up today in solidarity to resist blatant racism and colonialism,” she said. Aaliyah Gonzalez came with her mother, Natasha Gonzalez, and both women wore their jingle dresses. Jingle dresses originated from the Ojibwe Tribe and are commonly seen in competitive powwows.

Aaliyah Gonzalez also wore her NAU graduation gown, along with her own beaded graduation cap with an eagle feather that her grandfather gifted her hanging from the top of her cap. She also carried a hand drum she had made.

“It’s unfortunate that this happened, it's heartbreaking,” Natasha Gonzalez said. “Especially for the parents who go through that. I understand and feel and pray for the parents, for her family, because the first that comes is the hurt, then the anger. The good thing about this is our community is out and we came together.”

Aaliyah Gonzalez said being raised in the community and going through the Farmington school district, she wasn’t surprised at what had happened.

“I think Farmington has needed to look in its own backyard for a while,” Aaliyah Gonzalez said. “People say ‘racism doesn't exist,’ but it's so blatant here and that’s why it didn’t surprise me.”

Beaded cap exchanged for a plain one

A viral video shared across social media platforms captures the moment when Genesis White Bull, a member of the Hunkpapa Lakota from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, holds her beaded cap and tries to remove the tassel. A school official stands next to her, waiting to exchange the beaded cap for a plain one. There were over 400 seniors in the graduating class.

For the 2022-2023 school year, Farmington High School had approximately 1,800 students enrolled. Of these, 781 were identified as American Indian/Alaska Native, 452 as Hispanic, and 462 as white, according to the Nation Center for Education Statistics. The website did not have the 2023-24 information.

Although Genesis White Bull is not Navajo, Farmington High School has a Diné club, and offers its upperclassmen Navajo language, history and government classes. After the incident, the Farmington Municipal School District sent out a release.

“We are proud of all of our graduates and deeply value their different cultural backgrounds which enhance the educational experience for all of our students,” it stated.

It further went on to say that a student’s beaded cap was exchanged for a plain one, and the plume was returned intact to the family during the ceremony. The beaded cap was returned after the graduation concluded.

It went on to explain that under district protocol, outlined in the 2023-24 Student and Parent Handbook, students' cap and gown must be worn, and their appearance may not be altered.

“Students were informed throughout the school year and immediately before graduation of the protocol, including that beaded caps were not allowed,” the district said in its statement. “This standard process helps us set student attire during graduations. However, students are welcome to wear clothes of their choice, including traditional attire, under the graduation cap and gown, and regalia, stoles, and feathers in their tassels.”

Photos on the school’s Facebook page show the graduates gathered in a gym just before heading out to the field. It is unclear whether school officials conducted an outfit check to make sure everyone was wearing everything uniformly before walking out into the field.

“While the staff involved were following district guidelines, we acknowledge this could have been handled differently and better,” said the release.

The school said that moving forward, administrators will work to refine their processes at the school level. Additionally, the district is committed to exploring the implementation of a policy that permits additional appropriate cultural elements in student attire, including graduation caps and gowns.

Blackwater-Nygren, the Navajo first lady, championed a bill in the Arizona Legislature that allows students to wear Native regalia. She criticized the Farmington district's position.

“I know all of you have seen it online. There are people blaming the family for what happened,” she said. “They’re blaming the family for not following the rules that the school put forward, and I am here to say those rules were meant to be challenged.”

After the incident, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren signed an executive order to require all school districts that serve Navajo students to allow Native regalia to be worn at all graduations.

The 25th Navajo Nation Council expressed solidarity with tribal members and their right to honor their culture by wearing traditional attire during significant ceremonies, such as high school graduations. The council emphasized that tribal communities should not endure the perpetuation of generational trauma through discriminatory actions, especially during celebratory events like graduations.

Arizona law allows Native students to wear regalia

This type of prohibition is not new to Arizona. In 2019, LaRissa Waln, a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Tribe, then a graduating senior at Valley Vista High School in Surprise, wasn't allowed to join her class during the graduation ceremony because her cap was adorned with beadwork and an eagle feather.

At the time that was not permitted by the Dysart Unified School District.

It was just one of many similar incidents in Arizona that were a catalyst for Navajo lawmakers to try to address at the state level.

Before becoming first lady, Blackwater-Nygren served in the Arizona House from 2021 to 2023, succeeding former Rep. Arlando Teller. Teller had introduced a bill permitting Indigenous students to wear their regalia at graduation, which Blackwater-Nygren championed after taking over that seat.

Former Gov. Doug Ducey signed the bill into law in April 2021.

“It's been an ongoing fight for the past several years. This is something people have been working on for a very long time, it's nothing new,” Blackwater-Nygren said. “There are laws that support our students.”

Blackwater-Nygren attended the Farmington High School graduation ceremony but was unaware of what was taking place until a few days later.

“I was standing on the stage and had no idea what was happening,” she said to the crowd. “My heart breaks because this happened with thousands and thousands of people around us and we didn't know how to react or respond.”

After the incident, Blackwater-Nygren, a 2020 graduate of Arizona State University's Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law, posted on social media about individuals' rights regarding tribal regalia at graduation ceremonies in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah.

The post noted that, except for New Mexico, all these states have laws requiring schools to allow Indigenous students to wear traditional tribal regalia or culturally significant objects during graduation ceremonies.

“I think it’s important for our graduates to know, as we continue on with the graduation season, that they have the right to wear culturally significant and traditional regalia,” Blackwater-Nygren said.

Regalia is a vital part of Indigenous students' identity

Natalia Sells, a former graduate of Navajo Preparatory School in Farmington, said she's not surprised that this type of incident occurred in Farmington. A recent graduate of ASU's Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law, she presented a project on voting rights that included a section on regalia.

“I broke it up into sections, and one of the sections was how voting has an impact on education,” said Sells on her presentation. “Elected officials make determinations and pass laws to Native issues and people, and one thing I highlighted was tribal regalia at graduation.”

Sells said she wore her traditional clothing and an eagle plume on her graduation cap for her recent ceremony, as did many of her friends. She emphasized the importance of Indigenous students wearing their regalia, plumes or beaded caps at graduation, as it is a vital part of their identity.

“It's also symbolic of how far Native students and people have come,” Sells said. “When you look at education itself, especially how it was used to assimilate Natives, and now Native students are using it as a tool to help their communities and people, to push for Native issues to be addressed and resolved.”

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a statement on the incident and said she appreciates Farmington schools' acknowledgment that they could have handled this situation better.

“In New Mexico, we are proud of and committed to our diversity, and what happened at the Farmington High School graduation ceremony does not reflect that commitment. It is unacceptable that a student was reprimanded for representing their culture during a time of celebration,” she said.

Upon hearing about the incident last week, Sells researched the laws regarding traditional regalia and objects worn during graduation in New Mexico. She found that the state's laws are framed in broad religious freedom terms and are not nearly as explicit as the laws in Arizona, Colorado and Utah.

“You see New Mexico’s law and it's so broad, and you realize this is why something like this happened,” Sells said. “Where they can prohibit a student and take away their cap and their plume because there’s not this extra level of protection from the state itself.”

New Mexico's anti-discrimination law passed in 2021 states:  “No local school board shall allow for the imposition of discipline, discrimination or disparate treatment against a student’s race or culture or because of the students use of protective hairstyles or cultural headdresses.”

“Because New Mexico is very diverse you don't think something like this can happen,” Sells said. “This is a call to the New Mexico state Legislature to pass a law, and there needs to be sponsorship behind it, to ensure students can wear their plumes, regalia and represent themselves in that way at their graduation, especially in public schools.”

Arlyssa Becenti covers Indigenous affairs for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Send ideas and tips to arlyssa.becenti@arizonarepublic.com.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: New Mexico school won't let Native student wear graduation reagalia