Good move by the judge,
CORRECTION: Sorry, but Frizzell isn't the judge who suggested settlement. Frizzle mentioned in the article, as a judge who, last month, said there's no federal constitutional right to an exemption for a Native American who wanted to wear an eagle feather on her graduation cap. The new case is in state court, based on the California constitution.
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Schools seem to have abandoned all common sense and educational competence.
WTF were they thinking?
Christian Titman
Suddenly I'm in Junior High.
Eagle feather? I thought it was poker chips now.
I can see the school's point here. They have a rule disallowing modification of the graduation costume for religious display – any religious display. This would seem to fall within a neutral application of that rule.
Not saying I agree with the school district, but its ruling doesn't seem eye-rollingly stupid to me.
He may want to look for FBI agents coming to arrest him for possession of eagle feathers.
If you strive to offend no one (for instance, by banning religious "displays" on graduation uniform) you will at some point offend everybody. And....
.... Hagar has a point.
Thank you Mom and Dad for not naming me Titman.
I would do my Indian Whoop, but Mrs. Tank doesn't like that.
Hagar said...
He may want to look for FBI agents coming to arrest him for possession of eagle feathers.
As I understand it, Native Americans are the only ones legally allowed to own eagle feathers.
@Larry
Injun privilege.
As I understand it, Native Americans are the only ones legally allowed to own eagle feathers.
Only enrolled members of Federally recognized tribes....
Protecting Eagles is BS. It is ignored if the Eagles are slaughtered by the thousands to facilitate Wind Turbine rip offs being tax payer subsidized to benefit elite Democrat donors and achieve Malthusian Utopia by tripling of electricity prices.
And American Indians do not like to be referred to as "Native Americans," but protesting that looks to be another lost cause.
What do they know, anyway!
Some years ago, a woman visited the zoo and picked up an eagle feather that had blown over onto the walk path from the eagle enclosure. She was an artist and included the feather on a collage that she showed at an art exhibit.
They charged her and fined her $12,000 for that.
Well sure, an eagle feather is considered sacred for now.
But it's just a matter of time until every kid gets awarded a participation feather.
And when everyone has an eagle feather, then no one has an eagle feather!
I read the article because I couldn't fathom why the school district would prohibit a Native American from wearing an eagle feather at his graduation.
I should have known, hostility towards religion disguised as an attempt to create unneeded uniformity.
So, a rule they probably enacted to quash Christian expression is allowed for a pagan tradition. That squares with the PC dorks running the schools.
But now, they'll have to give equal treatment to Christians, or they can be sued, which will be fun to watch.
We weren't allowed to alter our graduation gowns or caps. I like it actually. The High School where we live now allows anything, and it's ridiculous to see the crap people put all over their cap and gown to make them appear more "distinguished." That said, I don't think anyone would have batted an eye about a six inch feather. That seems to me like keeping a Catholic girl from wearing a crucifix, which is over the top. We did not have accessory guidelines.
Now that I've had a couple more minutes to think about it, I don't think the school district was motivated by anti-Christian hate, as some have alluded to. The school district was trying to figure out how to get rid of the obnoxious leis that probably infest their graduation ceremonies by most of the student body because "so and so's family is from Hawaii and she got a lei and it looks so cool so i really want one too." Think about it, it's California. At one time, I lived near a fairly vibrant Islander community and they give out leis for everything, which is fine. I don't really care if a bunch of Tongan moms show up to Church on Mother's Day with leis. But more often than not, I saw others co-opting their tradition "because it looks so cool!" The school district probably got sick of it, the poor Native kid was in the crossfire.
How can possession of an eagle feather be illegal? Where I grew up in Canada, it wasn't uncommon to find them on the ground, as there are plenty of Bald Eagles, and sometimes feathers fall off. It's not like ivory or rhino horn where the item has to be physically removed from the host, resulting in the death of mutilation of the host. It's just detritus of a bird.
"How can possession of an eagle feather be illegal?"
The authorities are trying to prevent a market for them from developing. How can you know that the feather just dropped off the bird or if someone killed an eagle so that they could harvest the feathers?
Wikipedia has a helpful article titled Eagle feather law.
Why should this kid get a special deal?
I call BS on "religion" here. You come to our (entirely secular) ceremony for the (entirely secular) achievement of graduating, you come dressed as we say.
Simple.
If he gets eagle feathers, then I (as a descendant of Celts) demand blue body paint.
Judge Frizzell is the judge who ruled against the student in a similar case in Oklahoma. The judge who pushed the parties to resolve the case is Fresno County Superior Court Judge Donald Black.
Wearing eagle feather at a ceremony is a symbol of personal achievement in Native American communities. It is totally appropriate that she wear one to her graduation. And considering all the crap that kids have dangling from their mortar boards at high school graduations these days, it wouldn't be out of place.
From WAPO 2004 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2004/01/24/AR2005040308889.html
A federal judge sentenced the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution to two years' probation and 100 hours of community service Friday for the purchase and possession of 206 art objects made with the feathers of protected species.
In addition, the judge ruled that Lawrence H. Small, 62, must submit a letter of apology and explanation for publication in The Washington Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times and National Geographic.
Small, who heads the largest museum complex in the world, had surrendered approximately 1,000 pieces -- worth hundreds of thousands of dollars -- from his private collection of Amazonian tribal art to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in 2001 as a result of the investigation, according to documents made public Friday.
. . .
Small maintained he had no knowledge that the collection, which he bought before he became head of the Smithsonian, contained protected feathers. Prosecutors said Small was charged under a provision that is not often used, though it has been employed to prosecute people who collected bald eagle feathers.
I wore my George Armstrong Custer lucky charm to graduation, and no one seemed to care. Certainly didn't gift any law offices.
The court drew a line at bringing a tomahawk, though.
"If he gets eagle feathers, then I (as a descendant of Celts) demand blue body paint.
Go for it. No skin off my nose.
School administrator jobs seem to attract control freaks for some reason. Probably because most parents are afraid of retaliation against their kids if they stand up to them.
The Picts were not Celts.
First use of Pict on this page was yours, Hagar. Do you mean something you haven't said?
Conan, check six.
Hagar is right. The blue paint thing was the Pictish, who were Celts, probably, but only in the broadest sense that EVERYONE in France, Brittany and the British Isles were ethnic or linguistically Celtic. . ... The Picts were an ancient bunch of yahoos who used to infest Scotland. They were so whacked that the Romans, who slaughtered and conquered everything in their path to that point, got to the Tweed river and said "F***k this! Build a wall and keep those crazies out!!!"
William Wallace and his men didn't dress like they did in the Braveheart movie. They were pretty much your standard army of the time. Kilts, as we think of them, came later, and the blue paint crap was much earlier.
"But now, they'll have to give equal treatment to [ALL] Christians"
Because they made an exception for one Christian, they'll now have to make an exception for them all.
You don't ask the administration if you can do something, you go ahead and do it, then sue them into oblivion if they punish you for it. That way, you not only get to do what you want, you get to publicity as they make a huge illogical fuss over it, and you frequently get monetary damages. Win/Win/Win!
Kids these days need to learn how to do stuff and things.
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