- Details
- By Darren Thompson
“Thank you to the members of the Oklahoma Legislature who voted to override Governor Stitt on bills important to the Cherokee Nation and tribal citizens across the state,” Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma Chuck Hoskin, Jr. said in a statement to Native News Online. “Nearly every legislator voted to overturn the vetoes.”
The bill becomes law on July 1 and allows any student at a public school, including colleges, universities and technology centers, to wear tribal regalia such as traditional garments, jewelry, or other items of cultural significance at graduation ceremonies. However, the bill specifically prohibits the adornment of items such as a bow and arrow, tomahawk, or “war hammer.”
The veto override comes amid a lawsuit filed on the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) on behalf of a Native American Oklahoma high school graduate for allegedly being stripped of her regalia at her 2022 graduation ceremony.
Earlier this month, Native News Online reported that Gov. Stitt, a Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma citizen, vetoed the tribal regalia bill. In his veto message on May 1, Stitt wrote that if the bill became law, it would open up additional efforts by other groups to push for their agendas.
“Should this bill become law, the proverbial Pandora’s box will be opened for other groups to go over the heads of local superintendents and demand special favor to wear whatever they please at a formal ceremony,” Stitt wrote.
According to the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE), in 2020, there were approximately 156,000 American Indian students who were enrolled in at least one of the 39 Tribal Nations of Oklahoma.
“The majority of Oklahomans believe in respecting the rights of Native Americans and working together with the sovereign tribes who share this land,” Hoskin said.
More Stories Like This
MMIP Red Dress Installation Vandalized in AlaskaNCAI Mid Year Underway on Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Homelands
Native News Weekly (June 3, 2023): D.C. Briefs
House Passes Bipartisan Debt Ceiling Deal; How Native American Members of Congress Voted
History Made as First Navajo Appointed U.S. Federal Judge in California
Native News is free to read.
We hope you enjoyed the story you've just read. For the past dozen years, we’ve covered the most important news stories that are usually overlooked by other media. From the protests at Standing Rock and the rise of the American Indian Movement (AIM), to the ongoing epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People (MMIP) and the past-due reckoning related to assimilation, cultural genocide and Indian Boarding Schools.
Our news is free for everyone to read, but it is not free to produce. That’s why we’re asking you to make a donation to help support our efforts. Any contribution — big or small — helps. Most readers donate between $10 and $25 to help us cover the costs of salaries, travel and maintaining our digital platforms. If you’re in a position to do so, we ask you to consider making a recurring donation of $12 per month to join the Founder's Circle. All donations help us remain a force for change in Indian Country and tell the stories that are so often ignored, erased or overlooked.
Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous journalism. Thank you.
