Emalyce Kee, who is Diné (Navajo) and Rosebud Sioux, still does not understand why she wasn’t allowed to wear a beaded graduation cap with an eagle plume from Cedar City High in 2021.
The beaded art on her cap, created by her uncle, even matched the crimson and gold colors of Cedar City High. She wondered what the difference was between her cultural regalia and other students wearing candy necklaces, silver or gold jewelry, or even Hawaiian leis.
Kee says on the day of graduation, school officials asked her to replace her cap. She obliged but hid the beaded cap under her gown. But when her name was called, Kee donned her custom cap and walked in it.
“It kind of made me feel offended that they would so pridefully, like be the ‘R**men’ for so long. And then, like, directly take away that culture, part of graduation for Native American students,” Kee said, referencing the derogatory name for Native Americans the school used as a mascot until 2019.
On April 14, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed HB30 into law, making it illegal to deny Native American students the opportunity to wear cultural regalia during academic milestones, like high school graduations. Native American senior students across Utah can now wear feathers, beaded art, arrowheads, a pouch of minerals or any other cultural item without punishment during their graduation ceremonies.
Kee’s graduation day and similar stories from other Native American students inspired Trinidad Cervantes and her family, enrolled members of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, to organize for a statewide policy change.
At nearby Canyon View High School, which is in the same school district as Cedar City High, Cervantes was also denied wearing a beaded cap and feather plumes in 2021.
Corrina Bow, chairwoman for the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, took up Cervantes’s mission and asked the Utah Division of Indian Affairs and Utah Tribal Leaders for support. During this year’s legislative session, Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, and Sen. Jani Iwamoto, D-Holladay, sponsored HB30.
“There have been inconsistencies and inequalities in how the various high schools and school districts have handled graduations and deciding which ethnic group is allowed or not allowed to celebrate and honor their culture, heritage, and beliefs at graduation,” Bow said. “Now, with the passing of HB30, we feel that there will be consistency in our state and in our communities to allow our students to wear their individual tribal regalia during their high school graduation ceremony.”
Lance Hatch, superintendent of Iron County School District, says 17 Native American students will be graduating from his district this year, including from both Canyon View and Cedar City High Schools. His district serves 290 Native American students out of the 12,500 students enrolled.
“From my understanding of the new law, we can still ask students to wear the gown. We can still ask them to wear the cap, but if they have anything of religious significance, anything that they want to wear with that, we’re just going to comply in every way with the law,” Hatch said.
Utah joins the states of California, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, and Washington, which have legalized the use of tribal regalia during graduation ceremonies.
Iwamoto said she gave the official copy of the bill to the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah after Cox made it law as a gesture of goodwill between the state and the tribe.
“It was just a simple one for us to want to do,” Iwamoto said of being the co-sponsor with Rep. Romero. “It honors their students’ cultural heritage and allows them to teach the importance, I think, to other students of diversity, and how other cultures celebrate.”
For Native American students graduating this year, Kee encourages them not to forget where they come from and to be proud of their cultures.
“To all the future graduates, if you want to bead your cap or do like different kinds of makeup, or maybe braid your hair or wear something that represents who you are,” Kee said. “Don’t be afraid to do it.”
