Native American student told she can’t walk at graduation over decorated cap

A Native American student was not allowed to walk during her high school graduation Thursday after she tried to enter the event wearing a cap she decorated with a traditional feather and beads, according to the Arizona Republic. 

LaRissa Waln, a senior at Valley Vista High School in Surprise, Ariz., and member of a Sioux tribe, planned to wear the cap to the graduation ceremony at State Farm Stadium, but officials told her last week it would not be allowed. She left the stadium and protested with her family and friends outside after she was told she would have to remove the cap.

{mosads}Her father, Bryan Waln, told the Republic that school and district officials denied repeated requests for an exception on a religious and cultural basis.

“It’s really disappointing, especially from a public school where they teach you to be your individual self and to learn from past mistakes and to be proud of who you are,” LaRissa Waln said. “For them to tell me I can’t do this is really contradicting of what they’re teaching us in school.”

She told the Republic that she has received much support from her community, though no other graduates joined her protest.

“I do understand that this is also their moments with their families to walk because we all don’t get a chance to walk across that stage,” Waln said. “I understand that they didn’t, but I would’ve really appreciated it if someone did.”

Waln’s brother was also at the protest and told the Republic that he had been allowed to wear traditional Native American beading and feathers when he graduated from Desert Vista High School years ago. He said he was disappointed in the school but was proud of his sister.

“I’m pretty proud of her,” Cory Waln said. “I think it’s cool she’d rather be out here than in there.”

Bryan Waln said that many people have been supportive, though the family has faced questions about its efforts to change school policy.

“Everybody says ‘follow the rules,’ ‘just do what everyone else is doing’ — well, that’s how you get erased,” he said. “We’re not erasing our religion.” 

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) weighed in on the controversy earlier in the week, saying the family could sue the school district for violating Arizona’s Free Exercise of Religion Act.

“There is simply no compelling governmental interest in prohibiting her from exercising her Native American faith in this context,” the ACLU wrote. “No student should have to choose between exercising her faith and attending her graduation ceremony.”

The Dysart Unified School District said Thursday it met with the family before the graduation and offered Waln an unadorned cap and gown. It also claimed that Waln was told she could wear traditional clothing under her gown.

“Why do I have to cover up my culture underneath a gown?” Waln said earlier this week. “It’s disappointing that there’s still this kind of suppression at a school that teaches us to learn from history.”