Post by Dine'Luvlee on Jul 24, 2005 13:19:57 GMT -5
Graduation incident leaves family members anguished........
PORTLAND, Ore. - Blackfeet tribal members Craig and Rene'e Wellman wince when they recall their daughter's graduation at David Douglas High School June 8. ''One of the secretaries ripped my daughter's beaded eagle plume from her graduation cap,'' said Craig Wellman. ''She yanked so hard she pulled my daughter's hair out with it! She broke the quills, completely destroying it.''
Not so, said David Douglas Principal Randy Hutchinson. ''Pat Alderson, the athletic secretary that confronted Kelsey Wellman, said that the student tipped her head toward her, and she thought it meant to take the ribbon or whatever it was off. When Kelsey pulled back, Pat was holding onto the feathers after they pulled out of the piece of metal.''
Hutchinson also pointed out that ''we have a standing tradition of not letting individual students stand out in the crowd by putting things on their hats, and we spent considerable time explaining that to students in graduation practice, as we do every year.
''It's an unfortunate set of circumstances, and we didn't want to put anyone in any situation. We were just following our own policies that we've had for the 10 years that I've been here. Also I heard from the secretary that teachers had told Kelsey to remove whatever it was from her hat, and she said, 'Well, let the administration tell me.'
''I'm not even sure that anyone in that line knew Kelsey was Native American. Also, to my knowledge she was the only person who attempted to walk across the stage with her cap decorated,'' Hutchinson continued.
''I told all the students in practice that if they had family things to take care of, we urge that it be before or after the ceremony. And I added that if anyone had questions about what might be appropriate to see us. I did have one student see me about wearing a traditional Irish kilt to honor his heritage, and I said as long as it was under his gown it would be fine. That way his family could still get pictures before the ceremonies. To my knowledge, though, Kelsey did not contact anyone.''
The Wellmans counter that their son graduated from David Douglas without incident last year, and his cap was decorated the same way as Kelsey's - the edge beaded by Rene'e Wellman in school colors and an eagle plume hanging alongside the tassel. Further, the family underscore the idea that their daughter's four eagle feathers were given to her by her uncle when she was five and, in honor of her graduation ceremony, were bound securely and beaded into a full plume by her brother-in-law.
''If an eagle feather falls to the ground, it's considered a sign of disrespect and certain things have to be done to make it right,'' Craig Wellman said. ''So I know those feathers were tied tightly and could never have come out that easily. Also, the lady wouldn't even give them back to my daughter so I had to go down and get them. Several teachers that led me to her kept apologizing and asked what they could do to make this right, but the lady was on her high horse with an angry hateful look in her eye as she set me straight about the school policy.''
For his part, Hutchinson said that Craig Wellman ''contacted security and went to get whatever it was that was removed. He confronted Alderman and said, 'How far do you want me to take this? This is unacceptable, and I'm a member of the tribal council, and you're not going to hear the end of this.'''
According to the principal, the secretary also ''assured Mr. Wellman it wasn't the intent to damage the item.''
Kelsey explained that she knew there was a school code but the examples she remembers hearing were frivolous things like writing ''I made it'' on the mortarboards. And since her brother had walked with his cap, she didn't think anything about it.
Hutchinson wondered why the Wellmans didn't contact him. ''If it was a huge issue, I would have expected a phone call from the family. Or the young lady could have come by and had a conversation with me. My understanding is that the faculty apologized profusely to the parents.'' The principal was quick to add that he is accustomed to working with members of other cultures.
''Cultural awareness is huge at our school because we have such a diversity issue at our school. We have 38 languages and so [we] understand the issue of diversity that plagues society. But if people don't make you aware of something until the last second ... gosh, I don't know what we can do.''
Craig Wellman has not closed the door to further dialogue with David Douglas officials.
''An apology to my daughter would work. We need to build an awareness that it's OK to celebrate who you are. We shouldn't all have to be submerged under some cookie cutter mold. Who's to say whose society should win out?''
PORTLAND, Ore. - Blackfeet tribal members Craig and Rene'e Wellman wince when they recall their daughter's graduation at David Douglas High School June 8. ''One of the secretaries ripped my daughter's beaded eagle plume from her graduation cap,'' said Craig Wellman. ''She yanked so hard she pulled my daughter's hair out with it! She broke the quills, completely destroying it.''
Not so, said David Douglas Principal Randy Hutchinson. ''Pat Alderson, the athletic secretary that confronted Kelsey Wellman, said that the student tipped her head toward her, and she thought it meant to take the ribbon or whatever it was off. When Kelsey pulled back, Pat was holding onto the feathers after they pulled out of the piece of metal.''
Hutchinson also pointed out that ''we have a standing tradition of not letting individual students stand out in the crowd by putting things on their hats, and we spent considerable time explaining that to students in graduation practice, as we do every year.
''It's an unfortunate set of circumstances, and we didn't want to put anyone in any situation. We were just following our own policies that we've had for the 10 years that I've been here. Also I heard from the secretary that teachers had told Kelsey to remove whatever it was from her hat, and she said, 'Well, let the administration tell me.'
''I'm not even sure that anyone in that line knew Kelsey was Native American. Also, to my knowledge she was the only person who attempted to walk across the stage with her cap decorated,'' Hutchinson continued.
''I told all the students in practice that if they had family things to take care of, we urge that it be before or after the ceremony. And I added that if anyone had questions about what might be appropriate to see us. I did have one student see me about wearing a traditional Irish kilt to honor his heritage, and I said as long as it was under his gown it would be fine. That way his family could still get pictures before the ceremonies. To my knowledge, though, Kelsey did not contact anyone.''
The Wellmans counter that their son graduated from David Douglas without incident last year, and his cap was decorated the same way as Kelsey's - the edge beaded by Rene'e Wellman in school colors and an eagle plume hanging alongside the tassel. Further, the family underscore the idea that their daughter's four eagle feathers were given to her by her uncle when she was five and, in honor of her graduation ceremony, were bound securely and beaded into a full plume by her brother-in-law.
''If an eagle feather falls to the ground, it's considered a sign of disrespect and certain things have to be done to make it right,'' Craig Wellman said. ''So I know those feathers were tied tightly and could never have come out that easily. Also, the lady wouldn't even give them back to my daughter so I had to go down and get them. Several teachers that led me to her kept apologizing and asked what they could do to make this right, but the lady was on her high horse with an angry hateful look in her eye as she set me straight about the school policy.''
For his part, Hutchinson said that Craig Wellman ''contacted security and went to get whatever it was that was removed. He confronted Alderman and said, 'How far do you want me to take this? This is unacceptable, and I'm a member of the tribal council, and you're not going to hear the end of this.'''
According to the principal, the secretary also ''assured Mr. Wellman it wasn't the intent to damage the item.''
Kelsey explained that she knew there was a school code but the examples she remembers hearing were frivolous things like writing ''I made it'' on the mortarboards. And since her brother had walked with his cap, she didn't think anything about it.
Hutchinson wondered why the Wellmans didn't contact him. ''If it was a huge issue, I would have expected a phone call from the family. Or the young lady could have come by and had a conversation with me. My understanding is that the faculty apologized profusely to the parents.'' The principal was quick to add that he is accustomed to working with members of other cultures.
''Cultural awareness is huge at our school because we have such a diversity issue at our school. We have 38 languages and so [we] understand the issue of diversity that plagues society. But if people don't make you aware of something until the last second ... gosh, I don't know what we can do.''
Craig Wellman has not closed the door to further dialogue with David Douglas officials.
''An apology to my daughter would work. We need to build an awareness that it's OK to celebrate who you are. We shouldn't all have to be submerged under some cookie cutter mold. Who's to say whose society should win out?''
