Indigenous Student’s Right to Wear Tribal Regalia at Graduation

Credit: ACLU of Northern CA

School graduations are a pivotal achievement. For Indigenous students in particular, graduating from primary or secondary school is a momentous occasion that signifies not only academic achievement but also proof of community resilience after centuries of government oppression.

California state law specifically protects students’ right to wear “traditional tribal regalia or recognized objects of religious or cultural significance as an adornment at school graduation ceremonies.”