Native American student says she can’t wear regalia at Clovis graduation because it’s a ‘distraction’
As graduation season approaches, some Native American students in the Clovis Unified School District are concerned that their graduation experience will be jeopardized by wearing indigenous regalia to ceremonies.
Bella Garcia, an enrolled citizen of North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians, is among the five graduating Native American seniors at Clovis High School this year. Garcia has been petitioning the district for more than a year to wear her regalia on stage at the graduation ceremony in June.
She said her yearlong effort to get clarification and approval from the school has been in vain, so far.
“I’ve had several meetings with the principal, the vice principal, learning directors, supervisors — it’s just more of ‘Oh, that’s not my job,’” said Garcia. “The No. 1 thing I’ve been told is that if I were to wear that on graduation day I would be such a distraction, that I would ruin the entire ceremony. It’s just beyond crazy what people have to say when you try to represent your culture and where you come from.”
Wearing traditional tribal regalia and objects with cultural or religious significance as an adornment at school graduation ceremonies was enshrined in the California Education Code in 2019 as a right of students. Tribal regalia usually include, but are not limited to, eagle feathers, plumes, beadwork, sealskin caps, moccasins, or other forms of traditional dress, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
However, Clovis Unified, which is known for its strict adherence to its dress code, prohibits students from wearing non-district-issued or decorated caps and gowns to graduation ceremonies without approval.
Last year, administrators at Clovis North High School denied student Jennie Rocha from wearing a stole gifted by the Comanche Nation. The district eventually changed its stance to allow her to wear the stole following public pressure. In 2019, school officials had rejected a request from Rocha’s older brother, Christian, to wear his stole from the Comanche Nation.
“Like other districts in California, we do not allow any personalization of the graduation uniform because another goal of our graduation ceremonies is to honor and display the unity of a graduating class in their final moments together,” said Clovis Unified spokesperson Kelly Avants.
The district requires students to submit their adornment for approval to protect against any item being worn that may intentionally or inadvertently disrespect a cultural heritage or religious group, or present a safety concern, Avants said. Later this spring, senior students and parents will receive information about the approval process.
The district says its graduation ceremonies each year include students who “proudly display religious or cultural items,” though some families of graduates don’t feel that’s the case. Clovis Unified’s strict rules drew the attention of tribal leaders and advocacy groups, nationwide. Last September, the ACLU, California Indian Legal Services, and Indigenous Justice filed a complaint to the Attorney General’s office against Clovis Unified for allegedly violating Native American students’ rights.
Avants said the complaint letter “ inaccurately portrayed the situation in Clovis Unified.”
Garcia told The Bee in January that she learned from a handout the school distributed to seniors that the school’s deputy principal is responsible for approving or declining requests to wear adornments. But when she initiated the conversation with Clovis High administrators this school year, they said it wasn’t up to them and forwarded her request to the district office.
“I’m not asking them, I’m telling them that when I show up on graduation day, they aren’t surprised and I don’t get flagged. What I fear is being told that I can’t walk in my regalia or they have to take my stuff in order for me to walk,” said Garcia.
Garcia said she began the process in early 2024, when she was a junior, after learning that her Indigenous friends and relatives’ requests to wear tribal regalia at past graduation ceremonies had been denied.
“I’ve been trying to educate them about Native people’s rights. Clovis Unified’s district code is not above state and federal laws,” said Garcia. “I’ve been trying to fight to prevent anything from happening the day I graduate, not only for myself, but other Native kids who are graduating too.”
Xavier Rain Tree, Garcia’s friend who graduated from Clovis West High School last year, said his regalia and adornments were denied on the day of the graduation ceremony.
“When I walked into the building, I had to go through this first checkpoint, and they stopped me and they asked ‘Do you have your paper for your eagle feather,’” said Rain Tree. “And when they noticed that I had my cap and gown beaded, they said, ‘You’re not allowed to have that.’”
The Rain Tree family identify as Choinumni, Dunlap Band of Mono, and Wukchumni, an indigenous tribe to the local region. Roman Rain Tree, Xavier’s father, told The Bee that when he graduated from Fresno Unified School District in 1999, his mother beaded his cap the night before he graduated. The family braided his hair, blessed him in the backyard, and went to his graduation ceremony. He remains sad that his son wasn’t able to celebrate his graduation the traditional way.
Ultimately, Xavier Rain Tree was allowed to wear his eagle feather, yarn belt, and academic honor medal, but his beaded cap was rejected. He said the administrators didn’t seem familiar with the district’s rules, giving him conflicting comments about what was permitted. “It was kind of like made up on the spot,” Xavier Rain Tree said.
Xavier Rain Tree said his mom spent days handcrafting the beading on his cap and gown.It was disheartening to see the cap his mom beaded get rejected on his graduation day, he said.
“They really push this idea of, ‘we want to have the best graduations, everyone has to follow and look the same,’” Xavier Rain Tree said. “It’s about us, honoring the students who are graduating. It’s not about you, not about what you want this graduation to look like.”
This story was originally published March 5, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
