photo by: Shawn Valverde

Steve Cadue, Kickapoo elder and past tribal chair, speaks during a ceremony for Native American Student Services graduates on May 17, 2023.

In the first-ever ceremony of its kind for the Lawrence school district, Native American students were each presented with an eagle feather on Wednesday evening to recognize their graduation.

As part of the ceremony, hosted by the district’s Native American Student Services, about 20 students from Lawrence High School and Free State High School were presented with an eagle feather and a star quilt with their school colors.

Lawrence school board member Carole Cadue-Blackwood, a citizen of the Kickapoo Tribe also affiliated with the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, said bestowing an eagle feather is the highest honor in Indigenous culture and signifies the importance of the students’ accomplishment.

“Since time immemorial it’s the highest honor that one can bestow on someone, whether it’s for a tremendous feat such as war or accomplishing school,” Cadue-Blackwood said. “Our culture, we call them education warriors.”

photo by: Shawn Valverde

Native American Student Services hosted a ceremony for graduates on May 17, 2023.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

Steve Cadue, Kickapoo elder and past tribal chair; Lawrence school board member Carole Cadue-Blackwood; and Native American Student Services Coordinator Kenneth St. Pierre participate in a ceremony for Native American Student Services graduates on May 17, 2023.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

Steve Cadue, Kickapoo elder and past tribal chair, speaks during a ceremony for Native American Student Services graduates on May 17, 2023.

Cadue-Blackwood noted that Native American students have the highest dropout rate of any ethnicity in the district, and that it was a huge honor for her to be part of the ceremony that recognized the graduates. Lawrence, home to Haskell Indian Nations University, has one of the largest populations of Native American students in the state. According to a recent district presentation, 821 students in Lawrence public schools self-identify as Native American, and NASS has confirmed tribal enrollment for 360 of those students as part of certain federal funding requirements.

NASS Coordinator Kenneth St. Pierre, Ihanktonwan/Yankton Sioux, said the event honored and respected the students, and the hope is that the students feel welcomed and supported in Lawrence public schools.

“This is also a way to show our Indigenous values and pass those values of honor and generosity to our students and future generations to come,” St. Pierre said.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

Native American Student Services Coordinator Kenneth St. Pierre speaks during a ceremony for Native American Student Services graduates on May 17, 2023.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

Native American Student Services graduates were presented quilts as part of a ceremony on May 17, 2023.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

Lawrence High and Free State graduates were presented quilts as part of a ceremony hosted by Native American Student Services on May 17, 2023.

In addition to the eagle feathers, the students were each presented with a star quilt. St. Pierre said gifting a star quilt is also an honor and symbolizes protection for their journey through life. As part of the ceremony, the star quilts were held out and wrapped around the shoulders of each student.

Cadue-Blackwood’s father, Steve Cadue, Kickapoo elder and past tribal chair, participated in the ceremony as an elder. Cadue-Blackwood said students will use the eagle feather for the rest of their lives for religious purposes, and that the ceremony was a point of pride.

“We want our kids to be proud of who they are, their culture, their heritage,” Cadue-Blackwood said.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

Steve Cadue, Kickapoo elder and past tribal chair, speaks during a ceremony for Native American Student Services graduates on May 17, 2023.

Native American Student Services hosted a ceremony for graduates on May 17, 2023.

Cadue-Blackwood helped with procuring the eagle feathers, which can’t be bought or sold under federal law and require a specific federal process to acquire for use in Native American ceremonies. She emphasized the importance of the ceremony within historical context, noting that it wasn’t until 1978 that Native Americans were able to openly have their religious ceremonies, with the passage of the Indian Religious Freedom Act. And it wasn’t until 2019 that Kansas signed a bill into law that barred state or municipal agencies from prohibiting an individual from wearing traditional tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance, such as eagle feathers, at a public event.

Cadue-Blackwood and her daughter advocated and testified on behalf of the regalia bill, but she said even with its passage there have been recent incidents in the state, including one in Wichita last year, where students were told they could not participate in their graduation ceremonies because they were wearing regalia.

With that context in mind, Cadue-Blackwood said the eagle feather ceremony — which she thinks is not only the first in a public school setting in Lawrence but potentially the first in the state — was wonderful to see.

“We couldn’t even have ceremony until 1978, so to watch that last night was just something beautiful,” she said.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

A drum circle was part of a ceremony for Native American Student Services graduates on May 17, 2023.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

Kansas Rep. Christina Haswood speaks during a ceremony for Native American Student Services graduates on May 17, 2023.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

Manny King, of Haskell Indian Nations University programs and activities office, speaks during a ceremony for Native American Student Services graduates on May 17, 2023.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

Native American Student Services graduates from Lawrence High and Free State are pictured during a graduation ceremony for NASS students on May 17, 2023.