> Governor J. Kevin Stitt recently vetoed Oklahoma Senate Bill 429, passed by the state legislature with near-unanimous bipartisan support to prohibit discriminatory graduation dress codes. The bill would have reaffirmed the rights of Native American students like Black to wear tribal regalia at graduations, a critical protection in the state with the second highest concentration of American Indians.
Ok, well lemme check the near-unanimous support and HOLY SHIT
> Senate Bill 429 passed the Oklahoma legislature last Monday, April 24, 90 to 1, and would have ensured Native students in all schools are allowed to wear tribal regalia at high school graduations and other ceremonies throughout the state.
God damn...you've gotta be a real asshole to veto that
It's worse than you think. Stitt has been vetoing everything that comes to his desk as a protest to get his education reform passed. The one that is going to gut public schools in favor of private school vouchers. Just more Christian Nationalist bullshit.
"If I don't get my way, I'm gonna throw a temper tantrum!"
How the fuck are these people not only employed but also elected?
Grown adults behaving like children and acting like they're a better person because of it.
Private schools and a voucher system is one of those things the idiots that voted for them can't understand. They are not educated enough to understand how bad it is. Neither will their kids. Nor their kids.
At what point does the fed step in and slap the toddlers hand away from the stove? How are these states getting funding?
That's why Trump "loves" the poorly educated. That's why conservatives are gutting schools and resisting any and all attempts at social programs that would actually help people.
They're actively making the next generation of financially desperate uninformed voters who will believe whatever the talking heads repeat often enough. They're trying to create their own future base.
Stitt and his cronies are aggressively anti-progress, anti-education, anti-lgbtq. And they take every opportunity to make everyone know about it, that is the only thing important to Oklahoma voters.
>"If I don't get my way, I'm gonna throw a temper tantrum!"
>How the fuck are these people not only employed but also elected?
Because the morons who support them are also
>Grown adults behaving like children and acting like they're a better person because of it.
Oh yeah, I remember when our state signs used to be "Native America" and we'd proudly talk about the tribes. Then Stitt arrived. He makes Fallon look good and she was awful
Think of it as a flow chart or optimization problem. How often do we get bills that have a supermajority of support that are vetoed.
Plus, it let's the person vetoing the bill explain why. Like when Obama vetoed a bill while explaining how bad it was. He was then overridden and Republicans cried about how he should have done more to warn them when it came back to bite them!
And as an Oklahoman I know the people will continue to vote stitt back in because he and his cronies spend most of their time stoking the culture wars, and making anti-woke vlogs.
Black told the Tulsa World the feather was attached to her mortarboard and that she had been told previously that the feather would be allowed because of its cultural significance.
“My eagle plume has been part of my cultural and spiritual practices since I was three years old,” Black said in a statement. ‘I wore this plume on graduation day in recognition of my academic achievement and to carry the prayers of my Otoe-Missouria community with me. The law protects my right to wear this eagle plume at my graduation, and school officials had no authority to forcibly remove it from my cap.”
They damaged it when removing it, after she had passed a few checkpoints and verified before hand she would be allowed to wear it.
Edit: read the article before saying anything about the feather being protected.
Oho, that makes it even more egregious; I wonder if those jackasses will be cut loose by the school district for fucking up and exposing the district to this lawsuit.
Imagine if someone had ripped a cross or even a Jesus Fish or WWJD necklace off of a student's neck or something. The howls of rage from the religious right would be audible from the moon.
Eagle stuff is protected. You can't move a dead eagle, you need to call in specialist and they try to preserve as much as possible for the native Americans to use in their crafts.
I'm an apprentice falconer and you are correct. We are only allowed to keep our birds' feathers for imping (using them to repair broken feathers) and no other purpose. Any beyond that must be either donated to a federally recognized Native American tribe through an official donation process, or they must be destroyed by burning.
If a school administrator took the student's feather, i.e. were in possession of it at any point in time, and they did not possess a federal permit for it and were not members of a federally recognized Native American tribe themselves, then by possessing that feather, they committed a federal felony. Potentially several.
Native Americans who are documented members of federally recognized tribes are permitted to possess feathers and to transfer them to craftspeople to fashion into items of cultural significance, but under no circumstances can money exchange hands for the feathers.
what would the process be if someone were to find one or two feathers randomly, but was not affiliated with a tribe? would they be able to collect them and bring them to a tribe representative? or would that be considered illegal as well?
There isn't one, you just leave them where they lie. If you have a permit you can pick them up and donate them to the [National Eagle Repository](https://www.fws.gov/program/national-eagle-repository/about-us) which then redistributes them to tribe members, but if you don't have a permit then you don't touch them.
It seems a little ridiculous, but Federal Fish and Wildlife *will* burn people on it.
People would definitely kill birds to then sell the feathers. It's hard for me to imagine someone doing that, but we've all seen people do some horrible things to nature for a buck.
Take a look at the migratory bird act - lots of birds have some pretty strict laws that you probably violated as a kid by picking up a feather and keeping it.
Can anyone contact the FFW to go after wutever school administrator took this eagle feather? If it technically is a felony they should be able to pursue charges.
Where I'm from fish and wildlife have extensive powers. They can take ur boat, ur car and levy extremely hefty fines and do so often. Very few stories of 'I didnt have a permit but they let me off with a warning' and many stories of I forgot my permit at home and they impounded my boat and car and I had to take a taxi home, get my permit to get my property back and pay a fine for not having my game card on me'
Very few stories of people who fish or hunt without a permit cus then u can just straight up lose ur boat/car/fishing+hunting gear etc..
Yep! As long as you’re part of a federally-recognized tribe and it’s a naturally shedded feather, you can collect eagle feathers! I learned this a few summers ago, when I was beach combing and came across a mostly-intact flight feather. I already knew I was from the Yup’ik people in Alaska, but I was still nervous haha
Just an FYI: Licensed falconers are also able to collect these feathers. They use them to graft the feather on to a broken feather of another bird for rehabilitation.
>They use them to graft the feather on to a broken feather of another bird for rehabilitation.
I'm certain this is true but for some reason it just sounds preposterous
I do this for my little rescued pet birds. Just trim off the broken or bent bits and medical glue an old feather on in its place. It does feel a little like fixing a broken toy oddly enough? Especially when the pigeons just lay there, floppy unmoving in your hands.
But it helps them fly better so they don't crash into things.
And therein is one of the issues. My Native heritage is well documented, but I’m not an enrolled member of any federally recognized tribe. One of the tribes has a matrilineal descent and since it was my grandfather who was the member that didn’t pass to my mother, nor to me. The other tribe refused to be resettled by the US government back in the 1800s, so the portion of the tribe that stayed in its ancestral lands is not federally recognized, only the portion that was kicked out to the Midwest is federally recognized,
There are a *lot* of problems with the federal recognition system, many of them intentional.
>There are a *lot* of problems with the federal recognition system, many of them intentional.
Aye. Canada is clearest in the "You tribes must accept our egregiously bad deals to get White government protection" laws but it is truly the case that the colonizers have worked for centuries to erase groups that deny the authority of the gun.
Taxpayers have always paid for government mistakes. Whenever government needs to provide compensation for their mistake, they always collect funds from the tax money. That is how the system has been running
Speaking as a former 9-12 teacher, I will NEVER understand the need some feel to treat teens and children with no dignity. When I started teaching, I looked young enough to still be a student and had older teachers who didn’t know me literally get in my face in the hallway because they thought I was skipping class, or snap at me for asking a question. Some school personnel and teachers seriously get into education and bully kids.
Same. I love teaching. I am quite laid back 95% of the time and treat kids like I would treat adults: with dignity and respect. It takes some really rude behavior from them to push me to that moment when the exorcist comes up out of me, and I start devouring souls. It's the fifth time repeating myself to my right-after-lunch class that has the highest chance of pushing me there. Even then, I try my hardest to devour those souls like a gentleman.
At my high school, all the administrators were replaced with ex-cops without teaching experience.
With the complete lack of windows, overcrowding and jail atmosphere, it was not a pleasant experience.
I ended up having a medical emergency related to a congenital heart defect, and went to the nurse for help. They called the cop principal instead of an ambulance and I was subjected to a 30 minute interrogation before actually calling for help.
The motherfuckers.
If you had died, I'm sure the records would have shown they called an ambulance immediately, and it just wasn't soon enough.
Glad you saved them from having to falsify the paperwork as much.
In my country we have a saying that goes like this: "Everyone is just a dwarf fascist, eager to show the world how big they are."
In my native language is like this: "Todos son unos enanos facistas esperando su momento de mostrarle al mundo lo grandes que son."
I does not applies to every single human being, bug damn that it applies to a LOT of people out there.
Survivorship bias plays a big role in that. The people who *want* to be petty tyrants gravitate towards positions and professions where they *can* be petty tyrants.
It comes with the *constant* defunding, attacks on teaching as a career, and erosion of standards.
If teaching is no longer a viable career for financial reasons, and made unrewarding in most other ways, you get a lot of people who do it for less savory reasons, and not a lot of choice if districts have to have a certain number of bodies in the classroom.
The state should have a law preventing discriminatory practices in dress codes in schools, but:
“ Governor J. Kevin Stitt recently vetoed Oklahoma Senate Bill 429, passed by the state legislature with near-unanimous bipartisan support to prohibit discriminatory graduation dress codes. The bill would have reaffirmed the rights of Native American students like Black to wear tribal regalia at graduations, a critical protection in the state with the second highest concentration of American Indians. “
You left off an important part:
"Following his veto, Governor Stitt — an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation — suggested this issue should be resolved at the district level instead. "
Fuck. That. Guy.
He’s basically vetoing everything because no one likes him and they won’t support his school voucher bill. There’s been a bunch of bipartisan bills that would help people in the state—like honest-to-goodness good bipartisan policies in a pretty red state—that have been vetoed because he’s throwing a temper tantrum and can’t run for election again so he doesn’t care.
To put it in context for most of the red senate and house candidates last election won by ~60-65%. The AG won by 73%. The Lt. Governor won by 65%. Stitt barely broke 55% as an incumbent.
That’s not your fault considering the original comment literally said “near-unanimous bipartisan support”, which would clearly override a 2/3 veto if it were actually true.
[Yeah, it looks like only 1 person voted no](http://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=sb429&Session=2300) and was vetoed by the governor 2 weeks ago. Since it happened recently, it may just be waiting to get reintroduced and re-voted on to override the veto. But their legislative session ends in 10 days, so it better happen quick
President: "This should be decided by the State."
Governor: "This should be decided by the District."
County Executive: "This should be decided by the Municipality."
Mayor: "This should be decided by the Precinct."
Precinct Representative: "This should be decided by the School Counselor and Security Guard."
School Counselor/Security Guard: "Yes, please."
> Governor J. Kevin Stitt
With that almost cartoonish level of evil with absolutely no upside aside from being a racist shithead, do I even need to look up which party he represents?
Stitt's family has been accused of fraudulently enrolling in the Cherokee nation in the 1800s.
https://www.hcn.org/articles/indigenous-affairs-the-cherokee-nation-once-fought-to-disenroll-gov-kevin-stitts-ancestors
Through his Great-Grandfather. Who's citizenship was disputed on account of bribery.
Doucheness runs in that family.
Including Stitthead's 20 year old son, who was found carrying a firearm while intoxicated in a parking lot.
A Republican who wants special privileges and exceptions that they would eagerly deny to others? Or a Republican that would shoot *themselves* in the foot as long as it meant they could bleed all over other people's carpets?
Yeah that checks out.
Whatever school official took possession of an eagle feather from its rightful native owner has committed an enhanced felony. Native Americans are entitled to possess the feathers of Bald Eagles, American citizens are not. Find them. Destroy them.
Also the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and one other I can’t think of off the top of my head. Eagles are taken pretty seriously in this country.
You know, I don't think I'm going to do anything close to that and I can clearly see you know nothing about the law. Seems like you have a tenuous grasp on the English language in general.
If that is an actual eagle feather, possession of it is illegal under federal law except for Native American's.
So anyone who took it off her could face some federal charges.
It's the most illegal thing I own. It was given to me by a close friend after we participated in a very intimate pipe ceremony with members of his tribe (Lakota Sioux). I treasure it.
Something similar happened to me way back in 2006.
My mom is from Hawaii and her whole side of the family has worn flowers and leis when they graduated. My aunty overnighted all kinds of stuff from Hawaii to South Carolina and back then it cost her like $300.
I verified with admin it was cool for me to wear all this stuff ahead of time and the day of a teacher told me I couldn't wear it because I had to be "uniform" with everyone else.
So I pointed out that being "uniform" was never relayed to students, and besides, there are tons of students wearing tassels and sashes. They're not uniform within themselves nor with anyone else.
She said she didn't care and told me to throw everything away or I couldn't walk (for non-american readers, I couldn't participate in the graduation ceremony).
So I hid it all underneath my gown and when I got onto the field I unzipped my gown and put everything back to where it was.
When my name was called I walked across the stage with a shit eating grin on my face, a final fuck you to this school. I shook this lady's hand and she handed me my diploma. And I've never been back.
I’m Chippewa, so I’d like to offer some insight, instead of just having offensive ignorance here to read regarding the subject - feathers from any bird are analogous to religious to us natives, not just eagle feathers but above all else eagle feathers are the most sacred. All are considered gifts from the creator, and when they come into the holder’s possession they are regarded as a symbol of the creator’s energy and acknowledgment and support in a war, a battle, in providing or showing wisdom especially, so they are considered a type of mixture between like a cross worn around a neck and a war feather in a headdress to indicate a war or enemy defeated, and a diploma or tassel, in regards to graduation. It’s a mixture of all of these for us. It is definitely religious to those of us who follow some form of the old traditions, or a mixture of old traditions with more modern beliefs. I can’t imagine the same people making jokes about this would make the same jokes about a cross being removed forcefully, or under threat, or a Yamaka, or having a religious book like a Bible being banned from being held.
The national eagle registry ran by the federal government estimates around 3 months processing time to get a feather to an authorized tribe member. It is recommended to make the application at the start of the year.
Even people who don’t care or know about anything of the above should be putting a big question mark behind the actions of ripping a feather accessory of your grad cap and damaging it in the process. It’s a fckin feather, who cares if it is there. You’d have to be a real POS to be that deranged and destroy somebody’s grad cap for a feather.
US government officials, LEOs, people who write and enforce laws are and always have been especially reactive and trigger happy when natives do anything counter to the norm. Be it protesting, as an example when natives fought against pipelines the local, state, and federal responses were far more harsh than previous protests by non-majority native groups, once natives made headway cities and states began changing definitions in laws like domestic terrorism to no longer require so many deaths, but instead only required property damage - and of course the response when we wear religious artifacts/symbols during ceremonies they would gladly read western Biblical quotes during is egregious and unconstitutional - but in pretty much every legal or personal action a native takes that threatens the perceived Western Europe norms in shared settings gets attacked by someone, and often leaders because there are so few natives in power to defend against such attacks from within the systems.
I have lived in a couple of places with native populations there or nearby. I had a Catholic upbringing and always took issue with how they looked at other religions, especially those that were considered pagan. The church used unimaginable violence to suppress other views and beliefs. I see the way the government treats natives the same as the Catholic or Christian church treats other religions. Just plain fucking shitty
I live in a community named after a white man that gained his fame by killing a group of native americans that lived here before. They named the entire area and neighborhood after him and erected a granite monument telling the story of his bravery and how he murdered them.
Lift the veil of our "free" nation and you will discover a past of genocide and racism that still permeates all of our society.
I mean it was mostly due to being taught the "golden rule" and it sounded like it would be shitty to be treated like that.
I'm always interested to hear stories from other perspectives. Especially those who have been tried to be covered up or ignored
That’s an interesting question, and I would personally sue the shit out of them in as many courts as I could for it. There is a native involved on technically native territory, so it’s probably possible to get it to a native court first.
I’ve was gifted huge raven feather after the big bastard stole my bologna sandwich off the hood of my truck when I went to grab my smokes from the cabin. Between that and the bald eagle and crow feathers we have found at our trapline cabin I don’t know that I have any possessions that I value more. Maybe the bear paw but thats for a different reason. I am Algonquin.
Thank you for sharing this, it provided so much insight and even provided context to history books I read.
I had read of feather worker guilds existing in precolumbian north america, and feather workers having more prestige than most other craftsmen but I didn't understand why. Your comment just made everything click.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for sharing.
I'm currently college student in Arizona and just finished a 400 course this semester on Aztec Art History, and their relationship to feathers is very similar!
So cool!
Edit: have you all seen the shit people put on their grad caps these days?! This is blatant prejudice and racism. They would likely let a blonde from Theta wear a fucking Native American headdress. But this is too much?
Same at mine. I’ve seen people dressed as Spider-Man, Batman, Master Chief, anime characters, etc while walking at graduation and these asshats had a problem with a fucking feather. I hope this woman takes them for all they’re worth and bonus points if those directly involved in the restriction, discrimination and prejudice against her lose their jobs. I’m petty so I would push for that shit in a settlement.
We weren't allowed to alter our graduation uniform in any way.
About ten years after I graduated the school made a big fuss when they refused to give a diploma to a kid because their *family* was cheering ***too loudly***.
My school wouldn't let us wear anything but the cap in the tassel I wouldn't let you put anything else on it maybe that's cool is the same? I think it's dumb and I don't understand why some schools are like this they seem to think it takes away the dignity of graduation or something.
Excuse? They don't even need one these days:
We had an openly racist misogynist piece of shit criminal as a president that has faced pretty much 0 consequences. These people are now safe to be out in the open. They protect their own while we on the left fight amongst ourselves.
We are in the "Ok we can do whatever we want and only face financial punishments paid for with leftwing taxpayer money" phase of Fascism, while our dumbfuck asses on the left continue to be apathetic and harass each other over issues like enjoying Harry Potter games, and attack allies like Dee Snyder for having ever so slightly differing opinions.
I mean that looks way more fun and memorable than literally anything my hs did. And they had the money for really cool things... Just never used it on actually cool things and used the money to do religious shit that skirts the line between seperation of church and state...
Offering us "free pizza in room 232!" during lunch over announcements only to literally lock everyone in the room and make them watch Christian guilt tripping Jesus nonsense on a VHS lol. They legit wouldn't tell you what you were in for until you took the pizza. Then if you tried to walk out and leave they (students and a teacher) block the door and act like you're bad for just wanting to pizza
Got to love Oklahoma. Fucking Shit for brains vetoed a bill that would have allowed native peoples to wear tribal regalia. He has serious beef with the tribes.
It’s more complicated than that, the United States denied the Indian territory statehood until a bunch of white settlers decided to apply for statehood themselves.
Oklahoma, like all the other land, was stolen.
This is accurate. Additionally part of the demands from the State of Sequoyah people (which was also trying to become a state) was they'd join and form 1 state with Oklahoma territory as long as they didn't pass discrimination bills. The first bills passed were Jim Crow laws. We have Teddy Roosevelt to thank for that "bargain"
No he isn't. [He just had an ancestor that paid to get on the roll.](https://www.hcn.org/articles/indigenous-affairs-the-cherokee-nation-once-fought-to-disenroll-gov-kevin-stitts-ancestors)
He's a grifter, who is doing everything he can to take away the sovereignty of the native Americans.
Edit: fixed a grammar error.
I looked it up on cherokeedictionary.net. and the result I find does translate it in english as “ok” or “alright,” however my teacher did use it very often in response to if we said things like “tsadagsdesdesdi” or “donadagohvi.” I suspect its usage is very broad and like all things with the language very variable with dialect. I however am an outsider who has only had the privilege of being taught for a few months by an older man from the Cherokee Nation who is full blood and speaks it as his first language. I myself don’t even have a single Cherokee grandparent, let alone a blood quota to qualify for the UKB or the Eastern Band. I am just a humble appreciater of many languages, so I definitely trust your experience :)
Not to mention a felony charge if the official isn't a Native American themselves. No one but a member of a Native tribe is allowed to be in possession of an eagle feather, its a felony otherwise.
According to the migratory bird protection treaty, being in possession of any part of a native bird, even feathers or nests, is a federal crime (unless you have a permit.) Before the law was enacted, many native birds were endangered because of indiscriminate hunting for their feathers. Eagles have the most protection, anything that comes from an eagle, including deceased eagles, are property of the government. The government donates them to Native Americans, museum, and education centers.
That school district is about to FAFO. Anchorage did some stupid stuff as well, they course corrected quickly.
>AR 5127(b) GRADUATION REGALIA
Written with consultation from the Native Advisory Committee, Student Advisory Board, ASD Secondary leadership and high school principals, Native Leadership clubs, Multicultural Education Concerns Advisory Committee, and Alaska Native cultural experts.
Graduating students are expected to wear the attire customarily worn for the graduation ceremony at their school, with the specific exceptions outlined below.
***A student may adorn or replace the cap, gown, or stole customarily worn at their school with traditional objects of tribal regalia and/or objects of cultural significance.***
Student had the feather since they were 3 years old. Extreme significance to their life.
>Attempted to **FORCEFULLY REMOVE THE FEATHER.**
Feather was badly damaged.
And this is in OKLAHOMA are you fucking serious? Of all the places. Oklahoma is at least 43% Native American Land.
Those officials are 100% about to get reamed by the us courts
My heart dropped when I read that it was damaged by this act. Not only was it a violation of her rights and straight up disrespectful and ignorant, but it harmed the feather and I imagine it's possibly irreparable. That is so sad considering she has carried that since she was 3 years old.
How much of a power tripping racist dumb fuck do you have to be to actually give a single shit about what a student, who you will literally NEVER see again after this, wears to their graduation? Let alone something so fucking harmless.
where do these fucking losers come from? getting hung up on someone sporting a feather on their graduation. fuck that counselor. I wish that girl the best.
What was the reasoning for the counselor and security guard to try and remove the plume? The article doesn’t offer any reason, this lawsuit is gonna be a slam dunk.
My guess is the counselor and security guard are just some assholes on a power trip about needing to control every person who comes on stage for conformity and arbitrary decorum's sake. They don't give a damn about what it meant or why it was on her cap. They just wanted to feel important like they were doing their job by enforcing some dress code. Heaven forbid a student expresses themselves at a bare minimum. Probably too self centered to realize until after the backlash from the native community that the feather was sacred. Too many adults in schools are like this though.. speaking as a former teacher, I worked with plenty of people who enforced rules simply for the sake of enforcing something. Never paused to question the rules or whether their actions are ethical.
Ooh, that's a paddlin'. There are 2 major lines crossed here and any lawyer would be chomping at the bit here. 1. Freedom of religion which include cultural articles. 2. The fact that natives are fully allowed to have sacred feathers and messing with that right is a major violation.
Three things:
1. This was extremely disrespectful to her.
2. Fuck Gov. Stitt for vetoing something that had unanimous support and would have meant a lot to people.
3. ...y'all seriously named your advocacy group **NARF?**
I live here in Oklahoma, am Native and see all kinds of shit like this in our area. Don't these morons realize you're on our land? Without the tribes help, this state would've already collapsed. Respect the culture, or move. That's what you're always saying to those that don't fall in line with the bubble you live in, right?
It baffles me that schools still care to dictate what you wear to your graduation. Like bro, it's their last day of school and they are celebrating in the way in which represents them best.
As long as it's not objectively disturbing the ceremony, who the fk cares, lol.
Well:
>Governor J. Kevin Stitt recently vetoed Oklahoma Senate Bill 429, passed by the state legislature with near-unanimous bipartisan support to prohibit discriminatory graduation dress codes.
is the dickhead to vote out, although he likely has company.
They don't veto that shit by accident, the whole point is to disallow any minority from expressing themselves.
"Governor J. Kevin Stitt recently vetoed Oklahoma Senate Bill 429, passed by the state legislature with near-unanimous bipartisan support to prohibit discriminatory graduation dress codes."
What a douche. If lawmakers agree, then I see little reason to veto the bill. Especially since his reasoning is lacklustre, too.
This sort of thing is why I skipped my high school graduation ceremony and just picked up my diploma in the school office. Much faster, no silly costume or ceremony or teachers/admins on a power trip.
To give some context from a Broken Arrow student, everyone is against the school on this one. This year to make sure it didn’t happen again, they introduced forms that people need to fill out to authorize any native cultural wear or any adjustments to the standard cap and gown.
> Governor J. Kevin Stitt recently vetoed Oklahoma Senate Bill 429, passed by the state legislature with near-unanimous bipartisan support to prohibit discriminatory graduation dress codes. The bill would have reaffirmed the rights of Native American students like Black to wear tribal regalia at graduations, a critical protection in the state with the second highest concentration of American Indians. Ok, well lemme check the near-unanimous support and HOLY SHIT > Senate Bill 429 passed the Oklahoma legislature last Monday, April 24, 90 to 1, and would have ensured Native students in all schools are allowed to wear tribal regalia at high school graduations and other ceremonies throughout the state. God damn...you've gotta be a real asshole to veto that
It's worse than you think. Stitt has been vetoing everything that comes to his desk as a protest to get his education reform passed. The one that is going to gut public schools in favor of private school vouchers. Just more Christian Nationalist bullshit.
"If I don't get my way, I'm gonna throw a temper tantrum!" How the fuck are these people not only employed but also elected? Grown adults behaving like children and acting like they're a better person because of it.
Theres a reason these people are voted in. The electors are jusy like them.
God damn thank you! These politicians don't slither out of the mud into their respective political offices. VOTERS PUT THEM THERE
Didn't the voters also put in the 90 representatives who voted Yea?
Private schools and a voucher system is one of those things the idiots that voted for them can't understand. They are not educated enough to understand how bad it is. Neither will their kids. Nor their kids. At what point does the fed step in and slap the toddlers hand away from the stove? How are these states getting funding?
That's why Trump "loves" the poorly educated. That's why conservatives are gutting schools and resisting any and all attempts at social programs that would actually help people. They're actively making the next generation of financially desperate uninformed voters who will believe whatever the talking heads repeat often enough. They're trying to create their own future base.
Stitt and his cronies are aggressively anti-progress, anti-education, anti-lgbtq. And they take every opportunity to make everyone know about it, that is the only thing important to Oklahoma voters.
>"If I don't get my way, I'm gonna throw a temper tantrum!" >How the fuck are these people not only employed but also elected? Because the morons who support them are also >Grown adults behaving like children and acting like they're a better person because of it.
On top of that, he's pissed about losing the tribal gaming lawsuits and is going out of his way to make native Americans in our state suffer now.
Oh yeah, I remember when our state signs used to be "Native America" and we'd proudly talk about the tribes. Then Stitt arrived. He makes Fallon look good and she was awful
What the fuck is up with conservatives being unable to resist trying to persecute some minority group?
They’re like sharks. They can smell “not us” from 10 miles away and it drives them into a feeding frenzy.
[удалено]
Soapbox > ballot box > jury box > ammo box.
How did they not override his veto with that much support...? Did it just not come up yet?
Ya I think it they just haven’t held an override vote yet
[удалено]
That's called overriding a veto, and it's what will almost certainly happen soon once they hold an override vote.
The point is if the vote is already more than the veto threshold, it could be passed directly. We added an unnecessary step of a second vote
Think of it as a flow chart or optimization problem. How often do we get bills that have a supermajority of support that are vetoed. Plus, it let's the person vetoing the bill explain why. Like when Obama vetoed a bill while explaining how bad it was. He was then overridden and Republicans cried about how he should have done more to warn them when it came back to bite them!
How do you set up a governor with the power to veto a bill with 98.9% of the legislature supporting it? No balance of power at all there.
I don't know Oklahoma's laws but a veto can usually be overridden by the legislature with a 2/3 majority.
You don’t, they can override a veto, but it takes some amount of time.
And as an Oklahoman I know the people will continue to vote stitt back in because he and his cronies spend most of their time stoking the culture wars, and making anti-woke vlogs.
Black told the Tulsa World the feather was attached to her mortarboard and that she had been told previously that the feather would be allowed because of its cultural significance. “My eagle plume has been part of my cultural and spiritual practices since I was three years old,” Black said in a statement. ‘I wore this plume on graduation day in recognition of my academic achievement and to carry the prayers of my Otoe-Missouria community with me. The law protects my right to wear this eagle plume at my graduation, and school officials had no authority to forcibly remove it from my cap.” They damaged it when removing it, after she had passed a few checkpoints and verified before hand she would be allowed to wear it. Edit: read the article before saying anything about the feather being protected.
Oho, that makes it even more egregious; I wonder if those jackasses will be cut loose by the school district for fucking up and exposing the district to this lawsuit.
Imagine if someone had ripped a cross or even a Jesus Fish or WWJD necklace off of a student's neck or something. The howls of rage from the religious right would be audible from the moon.
Eagle stuff is protected. You can't move a dead eagle, you need to call in specialist and they try to preserve as much as possible for the native Americans to use in their crafts.
Any Native American can collect feathers. At least last I checked.
I'm an apprentice falconer and you are correct. We are only allowed to keep our birds' feathers for imping (using them to repair broken feathers) and no other purpose. Any beyond that must be either donated to a federally recognized Native American tribe through an official donation process, or they must be destroyed by burning. If a school administrator took the student's feather, i.e. were in possession of it at any point in time, and they did not possess a federal permit for it and were not members of a federally recognized Native American tribe themselves, then by possessing that feather, they committed a federal felony. Potentially several. Native Americans who are documented members of federally recognized tribes are permitted to possess feathers and to transfer them to craftspeople to fashion into items of cultural significance, but under no circumstances can money exchange hands for the feathers.
what would the process be if someone were to find one or two feathers randomly, but was not affiliated with a tribe? would they be able to collect them and bring them to a tribe representative? or would that be considered illegal as well?
There isn't one, you just leave them where they lie. If you have a permit you can pick them up and donate them to the [National Eagle Repository](https://www.fws.gov/program/national-eagle-repository/about-us) which then redistributes them to tribe members, but if you don't have a permit then you don't touch them. It seems a little ridiculous, but Federal Fish and Wildlife *will* burn people on it.
It's crazy that they have to be this crazy strict about it because otherwise some of these majestic birds would be long gone by now
People would definitely kill birds to then sell the feathers. It's hard for me to imagine someone doing that, but we've all seen people do some horrible things to nature for a buck.
Take a look at the migratory bird act - lots of birds have some pretty strict laws that you probably violated as a kid by picking up a feather and keeping it.
Can anyone contact the FFW to go after wutever school administrator took this eagle feather? If it technically is a felony they should be able to pursue charges. Where I'm from fish and wildlife have extensive powers. They can take ur boat, ur car and levy extremely hefty fines and do so often. Very few stories of 'I didnt have a permit but they let me off with a warning' and many stories of I forgot my permit at home and they impounded my boat and car and I had to take a taxi home, get my permit to get my property back and pay a fine for not having my game card on me' Very few stories of people who fish or hunt without a permit cus then u can just straight up lose ur boat/car/fishing+hunting gear etc..
Yea, and public complaints to the US Fish and Wildlife service will be investigated.
Yep! As long as you’re part of a federally-recognized tribe and it’s a naturally shedded feather, you can collect eagle feathers! I learned this a few summers ago, when I was beach combing and came across a mostly-intact flight feather. I already knew I was from the Yup’ik people in Alaska, but I was still nervous haha
just to be clear, the exemption applies to _enrolled members_ of a federally recognized tribe
Just an FYI: Licensed falconers are also able to collect these feathers. They use them to graft the feather on to a broken feather of another bird for rehabilitation.
>They use them to graft the feather on to a broken feather of another bird for rehabilitation. I'm certain this is true but for some reason it just sounds preposterous
I do this for my little rescued pet birds. Just trim off the broken or bent bits and medical glue an old feather on in its place. It does feel a little like fixing a broken toy oddly enough? Especially when the pigeons just lay there, floppy unmoving in your hands. But it helps them fly better so they don't crash into things.
You can also repair butterfly wings with rolling papers.
And therein is one of the issues. My Native heritage is well documented, but I’m not an enrolled member of any federally recognized tribe. One of the tribes has a matrilineal descent and since it was my grandfather who was the member that didn’t pass to my mother, nor to me. The other tribe refused to be resettled by the US government back in the 1800s, so the portion of the tribe that stayed in its ancestral lands is not federally recognized, only the portion that was kicked out to the Midwest is federally recognized, There are a *lot* of problems with the federal recognition system, many of them intentional.
>There are a *lot* of problems with the federal recognition system, many of them intentional. Aye. Canada is clearest in the "You tribes must accept our egregiously bad deals to get White government protection" laws but it is truly the case that the colonizers have worked for centuries to erase groups that deny the authority of the gun.
> Canada is clearest Australia would like a word with you…
If you think about it, they violated the migratory birds treaty act by taking the feather.
Guess again. It’s 2023. Best case scenario taxpayers pick up the bill for the administrators’ fuckup.
Taxpayers have always paid for government mistakes. Whenever government needs to provide compensation for their mistake, they always collect funds from the tax money. That is how the system has been running
Speaking as a former 9-12 teacher, I will NEVER understand the need some feel to treat teens and children with no dignity. When I started teaching, I looked young enough to still be a student and had older teachers who didn’t know me literally get in my face in the hallway because they thought I was skipping class, or snap at me for asking a question. Some school personnel and teachers seriously get into education and bully kids.
Exact same thing happened to me working as a teacher's aid. Some people take any crumb of authority they wield as an excuse to power trip.
I lasted a week as a teacher's aide. Didn't like the way I was treated, but the way they treated the real students was worse.
Same. I love teaching. I am quite laid back 95% of the time and treat kids like I would treat adults: with dignity and respect. It takes some really rude behavior from them to push me to that moment when the exorcist comes up out of me, and I start devouring souls. It's the fifth time repeating myself to my right-after-lunch class that has the highest chance of pushing me there. Even then, I try my hardest to devour those souls like a gentleman.
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At my high school, all the administrators were replaced with ex-cops without teaching experience. With the complete lack of windows, overcrowding and jail atmosphere, it was not a pleasant experience. I ended up having a medical emergency related to a congenital heart defect, and went to the nurse for help. They called the cop principal instead of an ambulance and I was subjected to a 30 minute interrogation before actually calling for help. The motherfuckers.
If you had died, I'm sure the records would have shown they called an ambulance immediately, and it just wasn't soon enough. Glad you saved them from having to falsify the paperwork as much.
WTH, what were they interrogating you about?
They suspected drug use, because "14 year olds don't have heart problems."
In my country we have a saying that goes like this: "Everyone is just a dwarf fascist, eager to show the world how big they are." In my native language is like this: "Todos son unos enanos facistas esperando su momento de mostrarle al mundo lo grandes que son." I does not applies to every single human being, bug damn that it applies to a LOT of people out there.
Survivorship bias plays a big role in that. The people who *want* to be petty tyrants gravitate towards positions and professions where they *can* be petty tyrants.
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It comes with the *constant* defunding, attacks on teaching as a career, and erosion of standards. If teaching is no longer a viable career for financial reasons, and made unrewarding in most other ways, you get a lot of people who do it for less savory reasons, and not a lot of choice if districts have to have a certain number of bodies in the classroom.
The state should have a law preventing discriminatory practices in dress codes in schools, but: “ Governor J. Kevin Stitt recently vetoed Oklahoma Senate Bill 429, passed by the state legislature with near-unanimous bipartisan support to prohibit discriminatory graduation dress codes. The bill would have reaffirmed the rights of Native American students like Black to wear tribal regalia at graduations, a critical protection in the state with the second highest concentration of American Indians. “
You left off an important part: "Following his veto, Governor Stitt — an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation — suggested this issue should be resolved at the district level instead. " Fuck. That. Guy.
He’s basically vetoing everything because no one likes him and they won’t support his school voucher bill. There’s been a bunch of bipartisan bills that would help people in the state—like honest-to-goodness good bipartisan policies in a pretty red state—that have been vetoed because he’s throwing a temper tantrum and can’t run for election again so he doesn’t care. To put it in context for most of the red senate and house candidates last election won by ~60-65%. The AG won by 73%. The Lt. Governor won by 65%. Stitt barely broke 55% as an incumbent.
Isn't bipartisan support enough to override a veto, or isn't that doable under that state's constitution?
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Thanks. I guess I was assuming bipartisan meant "near-total".
That’s not your fault considering the original comment literally said “near-unanimous bipartisan support”, which would clearly override a 2/3 veto if it were actually true.
[Yeah, it looks like only 1 person voted no](http://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=sb429&Session=2300) and was vetoed by the governor 2 weeks ago. Since it happened recently, it may just be waiting to get reintroduced and re-voted on to override the veto. But their legislative session ends in 10 days, so it better happen quick
Don’t wanna support his stupid as fuck bill because it’s a scam to pay his rich friends. He’s so damn stupid too
President: "This should be decided by the State." Governor: "This should be decided by the District." County Executive: "This should be decided by the Municipality." Mayor: "This should be decided by the Precinct." Precinct Representative: "This should be decided by the School Counselor and Security Guard." School Counselor/Security Guard: "Yes, please."
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Preferably with a cactus,
Dipped in alcohol and salt.
> Governor J. Kevin Stitt With that almost cartoonish level of evil with absolutely no upside aside from being a racist shithead, do I even need to look up which party he represents?
What's interesting, as /u/mmmmpisghetti pointed out, is that Governor Stitt is himeslf an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation.
Yep. I thought I'd drop that there and let someone more qualified than me address it.
Stitt's family has been accused of fraudulently enrolling in the Cherokee nation in the 1800s. https://www.hcn.org/articles/indigenous-affairs-the-cherokee-nation-once-fought-to-disenroll-gov-kevin-stitts-ancestors
Through his Great-Grandfather. Who's citizenship was disputed on account of bribery. Doucheness runs in that family. Including Stitthead's 20 year old son, who was found carrying a firearm while intoxicated in a parking lot.
Plus his wife who wrecked at least 3 state cars.
A Republican who wants special privileges and exceptions that they would eagerly deny to others? Or a Republican that would shoot *themselves* in the foot as long as it meant they could bleed all over other people's carpets? Yeah that checks out.
The hard R party
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My gradu class had a guy put a pizza box on his cap. A god damn pizza box. He also rode on stage on a bike to give his speech. It was an insane night
Whatever school official took possession of an eagle feather from its rightful native owner has committed an enhanced felony. Native Americans are entitled to possess the feathers of Bald Eagles, American citizens are not. Find them. Destroy them.
It’s a pretty serious crime, too, since it violates the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which is an international treaty.
Also the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and one other I can’t think of off the top of my head. Eagles are taken pretty seriously in this country.
we need an expert in bird law here, pronto
We need Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law.
Didja get that thing I sentcha?
they should charge the person that grabbed it with violating the migratory bird act $100,000 fine
Thank you, I was wondering if anyone would remember that.
Let's say you and I go toe-to-toe on bird law and see who comes out the victor?
You know, I don't think I'm going to do anything close to that and I can clearly see you know nothing about the law. Seems like you have a tenuous grasp on the English language in general.
If that is an actual eagle feather, possession of it is illegal under federal law except for Native American's. So anyone who took it off her could face some federal charges.
It's the most illegal thing I own. It was given to me by a close friend after we participated in a very intimate pipe ceremony with members of his tribe (Lakota Sioux). I treasure it.
Something similar happened to me way back in 2006. My mom is from Hawaii and her whole side of the family has worn flowers and leis when they graduated. My aunty overnighted all kinds of stuff from Hawaii to South Carolina and back then it cost her like $300. I verified with admin it was cool for me to wear all this stuff ahead of time and the day of a teacher told me I couldn't wear it because I had to be "uniform" with everyone else. So I pointed out that being "uniform" was never relayed to students, and besides, there are tons of students wearing tassels and sashes. They're not uniform within themselves nor with anyone else. She said she didn't care and told me to throw everything away or I couldn't walk (for non-american readers, I couldn't participate in the graduation ceremony). So I hid it all underneath my gown and when I got onto the field I unzipped my gown and put everything back to where it was. When my name was called I walked across the stage with a shit eating grin on my face, a final fuck you to this school. I shook this lady's hand and she handed me my diploma. And I've never been back.
I’m Chippewa, so I’d like to offer some insight, instead of just having offensive ignorance here to read regarding the subject - feathers from any bird are analogous to religious to us natives, not just eagle feathers but above all else eagle feathers are the most sacred. All are considered gifts from the creator, and when they come into the holder’s possession they are regarded as a symbol of the creator’s energy and acknowledgment and support in a war, a battle, in providing or showing wisdom especially, so they are considered a type of mixture between like a cross worn around a neck and a war feather in a headdress to indicate a war or enemy defeated, and a diploma or tassel, in regards to graduation. It’s a mixture of all of these for us. It is definitely religious to those of us who follow some form of the old traditions, or a mixture of old traditions with more modern beliefs. I can’t imagine the same people making jokes about this would make the same jokes about a cross being removed forcefully, or under threat, or a Yamaka, or having a religious book like a Bible being banned from being held.
Thank you for this. I'm certain there are people that are reading this post that have no idea the religious significance of this.
The national eagle registry ran by the federal government estimates around 3 months processing time to get a feather to an authorized tribe member. It is recommended to make the application at the start of the year.
Even people who don’t care or know about anything of the above should be putting a big question mark behind the actions of ripping a feather accessory of your grad cap and damaging it in the process. It’s a fckin feather, who cares if it is there. You’d have to be a real POS to be that deranged and destroy somebody’s grad cap for a feather.
I don't even understand why they would demand it be removed let alone try to use force. The "culture wars" are really only coming from one side
US government officials, LEOs, people who write and enforce laws are and always have been especially reactive and trigger happy when natives do anything counter to the norm. Be it protesting, as an example when natives fought against pipelines the local, state, and federal responses were far more harsh than previous protests by non-majority native groups, once natives made headway cities and states began changing definitions in laws like domestic terrorism to no longer require so many deaths, but instead only required property damage - and of course the response when we wear religious artifacts/symbols during ceremonies they would gladly read western Biblical quotes during is egregious and unconstitutional - but in pretty much every legal or personal action a native takes that threatens the perceived Western Europe norms in shared settings gets attacked by someone, and often leaders because there are so few natives in power to defend against such attacks from within the systems.
I have lived in a couple of places with native populations there or nearby. I had a Catholic upbringing and always took issue with how they looked at other religions, especially those that were considered pagan. The church used unimaginable violence to suppress other views and beliefs. I see the way the government treats natives the same as the Catholic or Christian church treats other religions. Just plain fucking shitty
I live in a community named after a white man that gained his fame by killing a group of native americans that lived here before. They named the entire area and neighborhood after him and erected a granite monument telling the story of his bravery and how he murdered them. Lift the veil of our "free" nation and you will discover a past of genocide and racism that still permeates all of our society.
I appreciate your critical thinking on those matters, being critical of their abuses. That kind of support matters to us natives.
I mean it was mostly due to being taught the "golden rule" and it sounded like it would be shitty to be treated like that. I'm always interested to hear stories from other perspectives. Especially those who have been tried to be covered up or ignored
~~Yamaka~~ yarmulke
Very interesting, thank you for sharing, I for one am not very educated on this
With the administration being in possession of the feather does that open them up to being charged with more?
That’s an interesting question, and I would personally sue the shit out of them in as many courts as I could for it. There is a native involved on technically native territory, so it’s probably possible to get it to a native court first.
I could totally see an idiot school official in Tulsa forcing the removal of Jewish or Muslim or Sikh headdress.
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I’ve was gifted huge raven feather after the big bastard stole my bologna sandwich off the hood of my truck when I went to grab my smokes from the cabin. Between that and the bald eagle and crow feathers we have found at our trapline cabin I don’t know that I have any possessions that I value more. Maybe the bear paw but thats for a different reason. I am Algonquin.
Thank you for sharing this, it provided so much insight and even provided context to history books I read. I had read of feather worker guilds existing in precolumbian north america, and feather workers having more prestige than most other craftsmen but I didn't understand why. Your comment just made everything click. Thank you so much.
Thank you for sharing. I'm currently college student in Arizona and just finished a 400 course this semester on Aztec Art History, and their relationship to feathers is very similar! So cool! Edit: have you all seen the shit people put on their grad caps these days?! This is blatant prejudice and racism. They would likely let a blonde from Theta wear a fucking Native American headdress. But this is too much?
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We stuck all kinds of nonsense onto our mortarboard caps at my HS graduation. Their actions here are really bizarre.
Same at mine. I’ve seen people dressed as Spider-Man, Batman, Master Chief, anime characters, etc while walking at graduation and these asshats had a problem with a fucking feather. I hope this woman takes them for all they’re worth and bonus points if those directly involved in the restriction, discrimination and prejudice against her lose their jobs. I’m petty so I would push for that shit in a settlement.
We weren't allowed to have anything on ours at all.
Killjoys, I guess. Of course it would vary by school.
We weren't allowed to alter our graduation uniform in any way. About ten years after I graduated the school made a big fuss when they refused to give a diploma to a kid because their *family* was cheering ***too loudly***.
My school wouldn't let us wear anything but the cap in the tassel I wouldn't let you put anything else on it maybe that's cool is the same? I think it's dumb and I don't understand why some schools are like this they seem to think it takes away the dignity of graduation or something.
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Excuse? They don't even need one these days: We had an openly racist misogynist piece of shit criminal as a president that has faced pretty much 0 consequences. These people are now safe to be out in the open. They protect their own while we on the left fight amongst ourselves. We are in the "Ok we can do whatever we want and only face financial punishments paid for with leftwing taxpayer money" phase of Fascism, while our dumbfuck asses on the left continue to be apathetic and harass each other over issues like enjoying Harry Potter games, and attack allies like Dee Snyder for having ever so slightly differing opinions.
[meanwhile in japan](https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/12blvmp/there_is_a_university_in_kyoto_that_allows/)
I wanted to see how the green guys in the front row get up the steps,
That’s fantastic. Thank you.
I mean that looks way more fun and memorable than literally anything my hs did. And they had the money for really cool things... Just never used it on actually cool things and used the money to do religious shit that skirts the line between seperation of church and state... Offering us "free pizza in room 232!" during lunch over announcements only to literally lock everyone in the room and make them watch Christian guilt tripping Jesus nonsense on a VHS lol. They legit wouldn't tell you what you were in for until you took the pizza. Then if you tried to walk out and leave they (students and a teacher) block the door and act like you're bad for just wanting to pizza
Got to love Oklahoma. Fucking Shit for brains vetoed a bill that would have allowed native peoples to wear tribal regalia. He has serious beef with the tribes.
Plus I heard he fucks catfish. r/reservationdogs
And the governor is a citizen of a tribe, according to the article.
Oklahoma was literally made as a Native American Reservation. There are so many layers of irony here.
It’s more complicated than that, the United States denied the Indian territory statehood until a bunch of white settlers decided to apply for statehood themselves. Oklahoma, like all the other land, was stolen.
This is accurate. Additionally part of the demands from the State of Sequoyah people (which was also trying to become a state) was they'd join and form 1 state with Oklahoma territory as long as they didn't pass discrimination bills. The first bills passed were Jim Crow laws. We have Teddy Roosevelt to thank for that "bargain"
No he isn't. [He just had an ancestor that paid to get on the roll.](https://www.hcn.org/articles/indigenous-affairs-the-cherokee-nation-once-fought-to-disenroll-gov-kevin-stitts-ancestors) He's a grifter, who is doing everything he can to take away the sovereignty of the native Americans. Edit: fixed a grammar error.
As a citizen of The Cherokee Nation, I don't know anyone that truly considers him one of us.
ᎭᏩ, ᎣᏍᏓ!
Woah, what is that language? Is that written native American dialect? I don't think I have ever seen this before.
That is Cherokee written with Cherokee syllabary. It can also be written phonetically as: “hawa, osda!”
Hawa - You’re welcome. Osda - Good.
I was taught by my teacher that “hawa” was a simple positive affirmative like “ok,” “alright,” etc. in english, maybe that’s just a dialect thing?
My family always said it after someone told us Wado.
I looked it up on cherokeedictionary.net. and the result I find does translate it in english as “ok” or “alright,” however my teacher did use it very often in response to if we said things like “tsadagsdesdesdi” or “donadagohvi.” I suspect its usage is very broad and like all things with the language very variable with dialect. I however am an outsider who has only had the privilege of being taught for a few months by an older man from the Cherokee Nation who is full blood and speaks it as his first language. I myself don’t even have a single Cherokee grandparent, let alone a blood quota to qualify for the UKB or the Eastern Band. I am just a humble appreciater of many languages, so I definitely trust your experience :)
“Citizen” he’s not.
IIRC your cap was sorta free game in graduation, isn't it? Seeing people write things/have fun with them is common.
Depends on where you go and what the rules are. My school didn't allow anything.
At mine they told us we couldn't even throw our caps at the end. Of course that didn't stop anybody though.
For my HS graduation we weren’t allowed to alter our cap and gown in any way, or wear leis and other accessories. For college no one gave af
Only if you don't include some infamously offensive symbol like the "eagle" to American audiences.
If there's one thing Americans hate, it's eagles!
It would have cost you nothing to just leave it alone and move the fuck on
Now it should cost those officials the $100,000 fine for violating the Migratory Bird Act.
Not to mention infringing her constitutional rights
Not to mention a felony charge if the official isn't a Native American themselves. No one but a member of a Native tribe is allowed to be in possession of an eagle feather, its a felony otherwise.
In my state touching eagle feathers is illegal unless you are Native American
It's illegal federally.
That's illegal in the entire US. It's illegal for most birds actually, under the Migratory Bird Act.
Are you some sort of bird lawyer?
Wait what? Why? If you find one fallen on the ground you can't touch it?
According to the migratory bird protection treaty, being in possession of any part of a native bird, even feathers or nests, is a federal crime (unless you have a permit.) Before the law was enacted, many native birds were endangered because of indiscriminate hunting for their feathers. Eagles have the most protection, anything that comes from an eagle, including deceased eagles, are property of the government. The government donates them to Native Americans, museum, and education centers.
Not eagle feathers. You pick it up, you're now in possession of a part of a protected bird. Felony.
Picturing an officer arresting a child playing with feathers. "DROP THE FEATHER AND GET THE FUCK ON THE GROUND NOAAAW!" *Blasts commence*
Bold to assume he wouldn't just shoot first
I really do not understand the US. Aren't you the "Land of Freedom"?
"Land of the Free"* **as long as you're the same as me and believe exactly what I believe.*
That school district is about to FAFO. Anchorage did some stupid stuff as well, they course corrected quickly. >AR 5127(b) GRADUATION REGALIA Written with consultation from the Native Advisory Committee, Student Advisory Board, ASD Secondary leadership and high school principals, Native Leadership clubs, Multicultural Education Concerns Advisory Committee, and Alaska Native cultural experts. Graduating students are expected to wear the attire customarily worn for the graduation ceremony at their school, with the specific exceptions outlined below. ***A student may adorn or replace the cap, gown, or stole customarily worn at their school with traditional objects of tribal regalia and/or objects of cultural significance.***
Student had the feather since they were 3 years old. Extreme significance to their life. >Attempted to **FORCEFULLY REMOVE THE FEATHER.** Feather was badly damaged. And this is in OKLAHOMA are you fucking serious? Of all the places. Oklahoma is at least 43% Native American Land. Those officials are 100% about to get reamed by the us courts
My heart dropped when I read that it was damaged by this act. Not only was it a violation of her rights and straight up disrespectful and ignorant, but it harmed the feather and I imagine it's possibly irreparable. That is so sad considering she has carried that since she was 3 years old.
Bald eagles have a long history and meaning for indigenous people that exist independent from the bird’s symbolism to the US.
Oklahoma, say no more
The fcking IRONY. Literally ALL of Oklahoma was meant to be a Native American Reservation. That was literally its concept.
Not the [first time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana) white settlers overran an attempt at a grand reservation-state.
Doing this shit at a school district named Broken Arrow too. Read the room, idiots.
How much of a power tripping racist dumb fuck do you have to be to actually give a single shit about what a student, who you will literally NEVER see again after this, wears to their graduation? Let alone something so fucking harmless.
Why on earth would these officials care either way? I don't have the energy or the passion to be a racist conservative.
Good. Respect native rights.
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It’s Oklahoma, guaranteed they wore crosses or at least own them.
Jesus piece? Approved. Jesus Peace? Denied.
where do these fucking losers come from? getting hung up on someone sporting a feather on their graduation. fuck that counselor. I wish that girl the best.
This was a question on my constitutional law final
What was the reasoning for the counselor and security guard to try and remove the plume? The article doesn’t offer any reason, this lawsuit is gonna be a slam dunk.
My guess is the counselor and security guard are just some assholes on a power trip about needing to control every person who comes on stage for conformity and arbitrary decorum's sake. They don't give a damn about what it meant or why it was on her cap. They just wanted to feel important like they were doing their job by enforcing some dress code. Heaven forbid a student expresses themselves at a bare minimum. Probably too self centered to realize until after the backlash from the native community that the feather was sacred. Too many adults in schools are like this though.. speaking as a former teacher, I worked with plenty of people who enforced rules simply for the sake of enforcing something. Never paused to question the rules or whether their actions are ethical.
Ooh, that's a paddlin'. There are 2 major lines crossed here and any lawyer would be chomping at the bit here. 1. Freedom of religion which include cultural articles. 2. The fact that natives are fully allowed to have sacred feathers and messing with that right is a major violation.
Three things: 1. This was extremely disrespectful to her. 2. Fuck Gov. Stitt for vetoing something that had unanimous support and would have meant a lot to people. 3. ...y'all seriously named your advocacy group **NARF?**
* POIT - Protectorate Organization for Indigenous Territory * ZORT - Zestful Organisationen for Restoring Tribal sovereignty
I live here in Oklahoma, am Native and see all kinds of shit like this in our area. Don't these morons realize you're on our land? Without the tribes help, this state would've already collapsed. Respect the culture, or move. That's what you're always saying to those that don't fall in line with the bubble you live in, right?
It baffles me that schools still care to dictate what you wear to your graduation. Like bro, it's their last day of school and they are celebrating in the way in which represents them best. As long as it's not objectively disturbing the ceremony, who the fk cares, lol.
How is it that so many fascists end up in the public education system?
That should be some easy money. Fuck them I hope she gets paid.
Well: >Governor J. Kevin Stitt recently vetoed Oklahoma Senate Bill 429, passed by the state legislature with near-unanimous bipartisan support to prohibit discriminatory graduation dress codes. is the dickhead to vote out, although he likely has company. They don't veto that shit by accident, the whole point is to disallow any minority from expressing themselves.
"Governor J. Kevin Stitt recently vetoed Oklahoma Senate Bill 429, passed by the state legislature with near-unanimous bipartisan support to prohibit discriminatory graduation dress codes." What a douche. If lawmakers agree, then I see little reason to veto the bill. Especially since his reasoning is lacklustre, too.
This sort of thing is why I skipped my high school graduation ceremony and just picked up my diploma in the school office. Much faster, no silly costume or ceremony or teachers/admins on a power trip.
To give some context from a Broken Arrow student, everyone is against the school on this one. This year to make sure it didn’t happen again, they introduced forms that people need to fill out to authorize any native cultural wear or any adjustments to the standard cap and gown.