{"id":23045,"date":"2025-03-20T10:45:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T16:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/governor-signs-bill-to-protect-native-students-rights-to-wear-tribal-regalia\/"},"modified":"2025-03-20T16:45:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T16:45:04","slug":"governor-signs-bill-to-protect-native-students-rights-to-wear-tribal-regalia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/governor-signs-bill-to-protect-native-students-rights-to-wear-tribal-regalia\/","title":{"rendered":"Governor signs bill to protect Native students\u2019 rights to wear tribal regalia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kirtland
Kirtland Central High School graduates walk together at the graduation ceremony on May 23 at Bill Cawood Stadium. (Alx Lee\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>Alx Lee<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a high-profile bill that protects the rights of Native American students to wear traditional regalia during school ceremonies, including graduations.<\/p>\n

Lujan Grisham signed the bill, Senate Bill 163, into law on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis legislation represents our commitment to honoring and respecting the rich cultural heritage of New Mexico\u2019s Native communities,\u201d Lujan Grisham said after signing the bill. \u201cEvery student deserves to celebrate their academic achievements in a way that honors their identity and traditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill would prevent public schools from banning tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance when they\u2019re worn by students who are members of a federally recognized tribe, nation or pueblo.<\/p>\n

Last year, a student at Farmington High School had her graduation cap confiscated by officials because it included an eagle plume and was beaded around the rim. She was a Hunkpapa Lakota from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe; her cap was replaced with a generic graduation cap.<\/p>\n

Tri-City Record<\/em> spoke with the mother of the graduate, Brenda White Bull, after the incident. White Bull shared her disappointment and confusion with the district\u2019s decision to remove the plume and graduation cap.<\/p>\n

The significance of the beaded cap and plume was large, according to White Bull, as family had gathered days before the commencement to pray for the plume and place it on her respectfully.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s part of our culture, when we reach a milestone in our life, we as Lakotas decorate, do our beadwork and place our plume on them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The incident received widespread attention and condemnation. The school district noted at the time that its protocols said graduation caps and gowns could not be altered.<\/p>\n

In response, Navajo Nation president Buu Nygren signed an executive order in protection of tribal regalia worn at graduations on the Navajo Nation, while Grisham also issued a statement disapproving of the actions taken by district staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a powerful law protecting the rights of Native students and their families to celebrate their achievements while honoring their culture and identity,\u201d said Indian Affairs Secretary Josett Monette of Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. \u201cWe are proud to have worked alongside Governor Lujan Grisham, the Public Education Department, and our legislative sponsors to make this a reality. Students\u2019 milestones deserve to be honored without barriers, ensuring that Native students can wear their regalia is a victory for tradition, identity, and resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Governor
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham gives her State of the State speech to kick off the 2025 Legislature in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Roberto E. Rosales\/NM Political Report<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The bill itself flew through the legislature without opposition. The bill passed both the House and Senate on unanimous votes.<\/p>\n

Since the bill included an emergency clause, it became effective upon the governor\u2019s signature, which means it will be in effect for this year\u2019s graduations.<\/p>\n

NM Political Report<\/a> is a nonprofit public news outlet providing in-depth and enterprise reporting on the people and politics across New Mexico.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Every student deserves to celebrate their academic achievements in a way that honors their identity and traditions,\u2019 Lujan Graham says<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[155,896,28,561,138],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-23045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-education","tag-government","tag-headlines","tag-native-american","tag-new-mexico"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23045"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=23045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}