Honoring the next generation as Native student celebrate graduation and tradition

RAPID CITY – Laughter and the clatter of plates filled the school cafeteria at Central High School as families gathered Thursday afternoon May 21 to share a meal ahead of the annual Native American Senior Honoring and Feather Tying Ceremony where Native American graduates are honored with eagle feathers and plumes and recognized for their accomplishments.

After the conclusion of the communal meal, families made their way across the street to The Monument, where Rapid City Area Schools (RCAS) honored a record 170 Native American seniors including traditional high school seniors, alternative academy graduates, and GED completers, during a packed honoring ceremony held in the newly built and spacious Summit Arena.

The evening opened with a grand entry led by veterans, ROTC cadets, and student staff carriers bearing eagle feather staffs and tribal flags from Rapid City, Rosebud, and Cheyenne River, underscoring the role of Native service members and youth leadership. Dignitaries from the school board, administration, and the Office of Indian Education joined student ambassadors from the RCAS Wacipi Royalty and area tribes to recognize the students’ accomplishments. An invocation in Lakota, honor songs, and a feathering ceremony emphasized cultural pride and responsibility.

Every family that Native Sun News Today spoke with talked about the importance of education for Native students and the need for schooling that is better aligned with Lakota culture, treaties, and history, noting that culturally grounded programs can be the difference between students dropping out and walking across the stage.

Janine (Oglala Lakota) and Moses Weaver sat with their large family to celebrate twin sons Trajan and Onzei Weaver graduating. Both received football scholarships and will be attending Black Hills State University. Their unci Mavis Wilcox said the pair have grown up side by side in sports, especially football and track.

“It’s exciting and a little sad,” said Wilcox, reflecting on watching her grandsons reach this milestone.

The young men won’t have much time for graduation celebrations as they are headed to the state track meet, which is scheduled for the last week of May in Sioux Falls, giving the athletes little time to rest between graduation, family celebrations, and competition.

Athletics and discipline, Janine explained, are woven into the family’s daily life. She said their father’s military service has shaped the expectations in their household, especially for their sons. “That kind of just naturally went over to them,” she said, describing how the structure and discipline of the Marine Corps carried into the boys’ training and school routines.

The family plans to spend the summer focused on football. Living in Rapid City, Janine said, makes it easier for the young men to attend college while staying close to home and family support.

Melia Jealous, a 17-year-old Central High School student, came with her family to celebrate as the first member of her father’s family to earn a high school diploma. Jealous, who will turn 18 in August, said the milestone feels “very good” and described her graduation as a meaningful moment for her family. She plans to begin her college education locally at Oglala Lakota College to complete her basic coursework, with the long-term goal of attending medical school and becoming a gynecologist. Her father, Waylon, expressed pride and excitement at her achievement as the family gathered for a photo to commemorate the occasion.

For many in attendance, the ceremony is about more than a single night. It marks years of work in the classroom, on the field, and at home, supported by parents, grandparents, and extended family.

One of the highest honors in Lakota society is to receive an eagle feather or plume. Kit Veit (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe) is the Director of positive School Climate and Culture for RCAS, and is temporarily overseeing the Title VI program, explained that feathers are for males and plumes are for females. Some students may not choose to feather. “It’s really whatever is a custom of their tribe versus here in South Dakota, because we have over 50 Native American tribes that we recognize within our student body. We have students enrolled all the way from Alaska.”

“We have the blessing of the feathers, then the student sponsor ties on the feather, and then as is our traditional Lakota custom, we honor the student with a star quilt, some may not, it could be just a blanket as well.” In addition, Veit said graduates are also being presented with a book by Lakota author Joseph M. Marshall III, “Keep Going: The Art of Perseverance,” as part of the evening, underscoring the event’s focus on cultural grounding and resilience. To finalize the passage, each student puts their hand print on one of the three tipis that represent their school, claiming their own victory or accomplishment.

The three tipis are erected annually for the feathering ceremony to include tipi teachings. In Lakota culture, the tipi represents not just shelter but offers a physical classroom where every structural element teaches a vital moral lesson. Every pole represents a vital life value. While these teachings are ancient, they serve as a practical compass for Native youth today to navigate the pressures of growing up.

The district keeps the same canvas covers every year, so the hand prints accumulate over time. The canvases are preserved so that relatives, younger siblings , and future generations can see the handprints left behind by the graduates before them. Veit said that they had just retired the previous tipi canvases. “When we retired them, we saw a handprint from a 1980 graduate. We could see three generations, so there is important lineage.”

Harriet Brings Plenty, accomplished Lakota elder and educator who holds a master’s degree, a bachelor’s degree, and an associate’s degree has worked with the RCAS for many years, helping the school district to develop the Feathering Ceremony. “Every year, I tell the kids they are doing something good here and I don’t want to see them sitting around at their parents house. I tell them there’s a whole big world and you won’t know anything until you go out.”

At 77, Brings Plenty is eagerly resuming work on her doctorate in leadership, a goal she had to set aside while recovering from a serious illness that kept her in and out of the hospital for months. She acknowledged that she wasn’t as involved in this year’s feathering preparations as in the past, but said the experience left her even more determined. Watching the graduates, she said, fuels her own perseverance as she moves forward with her studies alongside the young people she continues to encourage.

(Contact Marnie Cook at cookm8715@gmail.com)

The post Honoring the next generation as Native student celebrate graduation and tradition first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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