Students disappointed when board says 'no' to tribal wear at graduation

Two Warren County High School Seniors are trying to make a positive statement when they graduate in a few weeks, but it's not going the way they hoped.

Taylor Williams and Zianne Richardson are members of the Haliwa-Saponi Indian tribe. Each wanted to add an eagle feather and beads to their graduation wear. In January, they asked the school board to allow the symbols. Months later the board said no.

Richardson explained, “Whenever one of us graduates, it's sort of an accomplishment for the whole Native community all over the United States.” She said American Indians drop out of school at a high rate, so showing her culture along with the cap and gown would be a strong message to others.

The 17-year-old is graduating with straight As. She earned a Morehead-Cain merit scholarship, a full ride to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill this fall.

“I'm what people call a model student," she said. "I've always made straight As, and I've always been involved in my class.”

It's that involvement that makes her want to change the rules. Richardson wants to be an example that other tribe members can look up to.

“This is an eagle feather,” Richardson said while fiddling with the flight accessory in her hand. She held it to her head to demonstrate how it would be worn during graduation. “It would hang right there beside your tassel, so when you turn your tassel, you turn the feather with it.”

“You earn your eagle feather,” Richardson explained, “They're not just given.” Richardson earned her feather last year in a traditional coming-of-age ceremony. “It represented me crossing over into another stage of my life, and that's what a graduation is.”

Warren County School Superintendent Ray Spain told The Warren Record newspaper, “We don’t want to be offensive, judging who can do what.” He said he was concerned that granting the request for Richardson and Williams “would open it up to practically anything students wanted.”

Richardson is disappointed.

“Maybe the board didn't really understand what we were trying to say, because they referred to our items as decorations, and they are not decorations, they are items of religious and cultural importance to us,” she said.

Richardson will honor the decision of the board, but says she will also continue to fight for future graduation classes.

“It's culture for us, because we were born into the traditions, we've learned these traditions since birth, so this is all we know,” she said.

The Haliwa-Saponi tribal council has passed a resolution asking the school board to reconsider.