FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — A Lakota student’s traditional feather plume was cut off her graduation cap during her high school commencement ceremony this week in northwestern New Mexico.
It was during the national anthem Monday night when Farmington High School faculty members approached the student, Genesis White Bull, and confiscated her cap, the Tri-City Record reported. The top of it had been decorated with traditional beadwork and an aópazan — Lakota for plume.
White Bull is Hunkpapa Lakota of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota.
Farmington’s school district said in a statement Wednesday that it prohibits any modifications to graduation caps and gowns, but students can wear traditional regalia beneath their graduation attire.
“While the staff involved were following district guidelines, we acknowledge this could have been handled differently and better,” the statement said.