FARMINGTON, N.M. — Farmington High School graduate Genesis White Bull had to take off her beaded and feathered cap and wear a plain one for her graduation ceremony. Video of the incident is going viral on social media.

Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren, first lady of the Navajo Nation, says she’s not OK with what happened or how it happened.

“I was pretty disappointed that it was handled in such a public way in front of a huge crowd, in front of her fellow peers, in front of our Native community, who, let’s be honest, made up a big portion of that crowd,” Blackwater-Nygren said.

Blackwater-Nygren says she stands by Genesis and in their culture, beading a cap isn’t decorating.

“There’s a lot of thought and prayer and good intentions that go into the process of beading a cap,” Blackwater-Nygren said.

In the 2023-2024 FHS Student and Parent Handbook, it says: “The cap and gown must be worn, and their appearances may not be altered.”

To the school district, beading a cap is considered an alteration.

Blackwater-Nygren says Arizona has a “carve out” law for Native students, and she believes they are in a unique situation.

“There’s like a religious and spiritual tie that we have to eagle feathers and beaded regalia and so that’s how I would push back in saying there should be certain exceptions to our Native students,” Blackwater-Nygren said. “I don’t know if there’s a parallel to that, right, in other cultures.”

Four other Native students put feathers in their caps, but the feathers didn’t go against the school’s policy.

KOB 4 asked the school district about what happened. A spokesperson for Farmington Municipal Schools shared the following statement:

“We would like to address some of the community concerns we have received regarding the graduation ceremony on Monday night at Farmington High School. During the event, a student’s beaded cap was exchanged for a plain one. The feather was returned intact to the family during the ceremony. The beaded cap was returned after graduation concluded.

District protocol states that the cap and gown must be worn, and their appearance may not be altered, which can be found in the 2023-2024 Student and Parent Handbook. Students were informed throughout the school year and immediately before graduation of the protocol, including that beaded caps were not allowed. This standard process helps us set student attire during graduations. However, students are welcome to wear clothes of their choice, including traditional attire, under the graduation cap and gown, and regalia, stoles, and feathers in their tassels.

While the staff involved were following district guidelines, we acknowledge this could have been handled differently and better. Moving forward, we will work to refine our processes at the school level. The district is also committed to exploring the addition of a district policy that allows for additional appropriate cultural elements in student attire, including graduation caps and gowns.

We are proud of all of our graduates and deeply value their different cultural backgrounds which enhance the educational experience for all of our students. Thank you for your understanding and support as we continue to work to honor both culture and individual expression in all our schools.”

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham issued the following statement Friday:

“In New Mexico, we are proud of and committed to our diversity, and what happened at the Farmington High School graduation ceremony does not reflect that commitment. It is unacceptable that a student was reprimanded for representing their culture during a time of celebration. 

I appreciate that the Farmington schools acknowledge that they could have handled this situation better and that their policy may be too restrictive. However, it shouldn’t have required the student raising this issue for a school to recognize its lack of inclusivity.”

Farmington Municipal Schools shared another statement on the incident Friday, on behalf of Cody Diehl, superintendent of FMS, and Rocky Torres, principal of Farmington HS:

“Farmington Municipal Schools and Farmington High School would like to apologize to the community, the student, and her family, for the events at graduation involving the Native American regalia. The intent, always, is to create a ceremony that is inclusive of all graduates and honors all of our students. It is clear that what occurred detracted from that and had the opposite effect. We are confident that our staff intended no disrespect or to violate anyone’s cultural beliefs or practices. In a community like ours, we need to have a new conversation about meaningful ways to best celebrate all of our graduates.

To learn from this experience and to improve our school community, we will continue to collaborate with groups within the Navajo Nation and other community stakeholders to begin the healing process and figure out the best ways to move forward. We are committed to learning from this experience and improving our school communities now and in the future.”