NC’s Native American students will be able to wear feathers at their graduations
Updated June 14 with Gov. Cooper announcing he had signed the bill into law.
Native American students will have the legal right to wear bird feathers and other culturally significant items at public high school graduations in North Carolina.
The state Senate unanimously passed the “American Indians Graduating with Honors Act” on June 8. The legislation requires public high schools to allow students who are members of a state or federally recognized Indian tribe to wear objects such as bird feathers and plumes at graduation ceremonies.
“As the Senator who is representing the largest American Indian tribe east of the Mississippi with over 50,000 members, I’ve observed many powwows since I’ve been serving and before I was serving,” said Sen. Danny Britt, a Robeson County Republican. “I’ve seen how important an eagle feather, a hawk’s feather and many other items of cultural significance are to the Lumbee people, and I’m proudly bringing this bill before you today.”
The bill comes as high schools across the state hold graduation ceremonies. Bill supporters said it was necessary because some schools were preventing Native American graduates from wearing feathers.
NC’s large Native American population
House Bill 166 was unanimously passed by the state House in March. Democratic Gov, Roy Cooper announced on June 14 that he had signed the bill into law.
North Carolina has the nation’s largest Native American population east of the Mississippi River. The state officially recognizes eight Native American tribes.
According to state records, there are 15,865 Native American students enrolled in public schools this school year.
Rep. Jarrod Lowery, a Robeson County Republican and a member of the Lumbee Tribe, told a Senate committee last month that the legislation would affect less than 1,000 high school seniors each year, mostly in Cumberland, Hoke and Robeson counties.
The legislation was the top legislative priority for the N.C. Commission of Indian Affairs.
This story was originally published June 8, 2023 at 1:00 PM.
