Indigenous seniors celebrate major right of passage: high school graduation

More than 60 Indigenous students celebrated a major rite of passage Friday night: graduating from high school with the Class of 2022.

The Sioux Falls School District has held a senior honoring ceremony specifically for Indigenous students for at least a decade, according to Anna Brokenleg, instructional coach and teacher on special assignment for the Office of Indian Education for the district.

A total of 90 Native American students will graduate from Sioux Falls public schools this year, Brokenleg said, counting 60 who were able to attend Friday night’s ceremony. Graduation for all four public high schools will be held at the Sioux Falls Arena on Sunday.

“Historically, when you look at graduation rates for Native students, they’re often very low,” Brokenleg said, explaining why it’s important to honor these students in a culturally relevant manner. “Hearing from a variety of elders and professionals allows them to see a mirror of the kinds of things they can be in life… and to have a gathering for families to be able to celebrate with them, and the hard work they’ve put in… it’s a really important thing to do.”

The honoring ceremony started with an opening prayer, songs by Crazy Bull and a presentation of the U.S. and South Dakota flags, as well as an eagle feather staff, by veterans. Brokenleg gave a welcome and thanked sponsors and volunteers who helped put together the ceremony.

Three speakers gave addresses, then a group of student leaders carried in their tribal flags. The graduates were honored by family members who tied eagle feathers to their hair or to their graduation caps and wrapped them in star quilts while an honor song played. After the ceremony, attendees ate a meal together to celebrate the evening.

What did the ceremony mean to these seniors?

To Tracen Ashes, 17, a senior from Roosevelt High School and a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, graduation is a testament to staying strong.

Ashes’ older sister died in 2014, and his niece died in September. He struggles with ADHD, depression and anxiety, he said. But through his loss, he’s helped other students in his culture with their own mourning and loss.

“I could tell it helped alleviate some stress for them, and let go of some weight off their chests,” he said, adding that he viewed his ceremony on Friday night as a way to graduate for his older sister because she couldn’t.

Ashes also stayed involved in many extracurriculars at RHS, including football, marching band and theater over his four years.

“I’ve learned that personally when I experienced the thralls of depression and having depressive episodes, it would be helpful for me to get involved in the classroom and extracurriculars,” Ashes said. “They brought me out of the dark hole that is depression, and I’ve become a more stable human being.”

Ashes plans to attend Augustana University to study to become a theater and history teacher.

Ashes graduated alongside peers like Naven Foote and Yasmine Bautista Friday night.

Foote, 18, a senior from Lincoln High School and a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, said he plans to attend the Community College for Sioux Falls, which offers classes from Board of Regents institutions, and plans to study biology there now that he’s done with high school.

Bautista, 18, a senior from Roosevelt High School and a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, said the ceremony meant a lot to her, in addition to the opportunity to walk the stage with all RHS students on Sunday.

“I feel like I’ve worked hard,” she said, looking back on fond memories of high school in Lakota class.

Bautista plans to take a gap year after high school before considering studying law at the University of South Dakota.

Life lessons from Indigenous role models

Mason Calhoun, Oceti Sakowin Owaunspe teacher at George McGovern Middle School in Sioux Falls, told the students that just by being there at the ceremony and by graduating high school, they have excelled.

Megan Wounded Head, an English teacher at Washington High School, told the audience about her own educational journey and let them know they could attain similar goals as she did.

“What you have done to achieve your diploma is spectacular,” she said. “What you have done to be here is inspiring. What you do next is all up to you. Know that we all support you, we all love you, and we all encourage you to positively move forward.”

George Eagleman, a spiritual advisor, spoke on the “Endurance of Higher Education” and told students that he believed in all of them.

“You graduated,” Eagleman said. “Don’t ever let anyone take that away.”

Kyrie Dunkley, vice president of the Indian Education Parent Committee, sent out a survey in advance to make sure students had beaded caps, ribbon skirts and star quilts lined up for the ceremony.

She sent out beading kits to those who wanted to bead, and held a beading session at the Instructional Planning Center for those who needed help with their caps. She also helped students make ribbon skirts or shirts if they needed assistance.

Brokenleg explained that the star quilts are part of many important honorings or events in Oceti Sakowin culture, and Dunkley said it’s similar to one’s godparents baptizing them when they’re born.

Dunkley noted that students will be able to wear their beaded caps, eagle feathers, ribbon shirts and ribbon skirts, moccasins and any other traditional regalia to the larger commencement event on Sunday.

“We are in a pivotal time in history where we’re actually bringing back a lot of things that were restricted from us and outlawed,” Dunkley said of the ceremony’s relevance. “I like the interest (students) had in carrying their own flag,” she added.

Robert Johnson, Oceti Sakowin Owaunspe teacher at Roosevelt High School, said the ceremony highlights the way of life, individualism, faith and trust in oneself and one’s people.

“We just have the ultimate faith in all of our children,” Johnson said. “We have some tools that we know are going to help our kids, and we know they’re beneficial for our community, like when we do these things. That’s what we’re trying to keep alive.”

The Arby’s Foundation awarded an $8,000 grant to the Sioux Falls Public Schools Education Foundation in support of the honoring ceremony, and the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation also gave $5,000 to help put together the honoring.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: SFSD honors Indigenous graduates in culturally relevant ceremony