Oklahoma faculty officers tried to tear a Native American pupil's sacred feather off her cap at commencement, lawsuit alleges

• A Native American pupil alleges that faculty workers tried to tear a sacred eagle plume off her commencement cap.
• In a lawsuit, Lena’ Black says the workers broken her feather through the scuffle.
• Black says she had a panic assault — however the academics nonetheless grabbed at her sacred plume.

Oklahoma faculty officers tried to tear a Native American pupil’s sacred eagle feather off her cap at her highschool commencement final yr, the teenager alleges in a brand new lawsuit. 

In her lawsuit filed final week, Lena’ Black — who’s a member of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Oklahoma and of Osage descent — detailed the alleged altercation at her highschool commencement ceremony on Could 16, 2022.

Black had hooked up an eagle plume to her mortarboard — a sacred object that was ceremonially bestowed on her at age 3 which “represents the prayers of her Otoe-Missouria individuals for her life and safety,” in response to the lawsuit. 

Within the lawsuit, Black says that two Damaged Arrow Public College officers approached her on the soccer subject the place the ceremony was about to happen, and yelled at her to take away the “ornament.”

Black says she tried to clarify to the workers that the eagle plume was a “important” “spiritual and cultural merchandise, not a ornament,” in response to the lawsuit. 

She alleges that the 2 workers members ignored her and tried to tear the eagle plume off her cap.

Black says she suffered a panic assault and sank to the bottom together with her knees curled as much as her chest, whereas the 2 workers members continued to seize at her eagle feather. 

The sacred plume was “bodily and ceremonially broken” within the encounter, the lawsuit alleges. And now, Black says she’s undecided if she’s going to ever use it once more, in response to the lawsuit. 

Black ended up holding the plume in her hand when she walked throughout the commencement stage. Different college students had been allowed to put on spiritual objects to the ceremony, like hijabs and crosses, however faculty coverage required them to request formal approval beforehand, in response to the lawsuit.

Black mentioned within the lawsuit that she was by no means informed concerning the coverage, and was even informed by a instructor that the feather was allowed. 

Tara Thompson, a spokesperson for Damaged Arrow Public Faculties, didn’t reply to the precise allegations in an announcement to Insider.

However Thompson mentioned college students on the faculty “do have the choice so as to add objects to their commencement regalia.”

“Not solely will we make exceptions for the Native American tribes, we additionally permit different spiritual and ethnic heritages to be celebrated by the sporting of particular objects,” Thompson mentioned. “This course of has been in place for a number of years, together with final yr.” 

The varsity highlighted a bit of its commencement guidelines that states college students should “observe the under approval course of” earlier than sporting cultural clothes.

Black’s lawsuit says the college official who approves these requests was on go away on the time of Black’s commencement.

Black alleges her freedom of speech and proper to train her faith had been violated, and desires $50,000 in damages. 

“Nothing can undo the hurt that was performed to Ms. Black,” her legal professional, Morgan Saunders, informed Insider. “However the aim of this lawsuit has all the time been to ensure nothing like this ever occurs to a different pupil and we’re hopeful this lawsuit will make a distinction.”

The principal of Damaged Arrow Excessive College didn’t reply to Insider’s request for remark.