Lakota Student Files Free Speech Suit Against Oelrichs School Board

Friday, 07 May 2010 07:33

Written by Eric Zimmer

A nineteen year old Oelrichs High School student filed a lawsuit against members of the Oelrichs School Board in U.S. District Court, Monday, in Rapid City. The suit cites a violation of the student's First Amendment right to free speech, stemming from a school board-issued decision prohibiting him from wearing traditional tribal dress at the May 22 Oelrichs High School graduation ceremony.

Rapid City attorney Jim Leach filed the suit on behalf of Aloysius Dreaming Bear, 19, of Oglala. Specifically named as defendants in the complaint are: President of the Oelrichs School Board Berline Fleming; board Vice President Bonnie Anderson; board members John Cope, Lance Tlustos, and Lisa Lockhart; and Oelrichs Superintendent Lawrence Jaske.

Dreaming Bear, a graduating senior at Oelrichs High School, wishes to wear traditional Lakota clothing at his graduation, according to an April 12 letter he presented to the Oelrichs School Board. Dreaming Bear stated that he wants to "protect [his] culture's heritage by standing up for what is right," which he believes is represented by wearing his "tribe's traditional clothing with pride on graduation day." Dreaming Bear says he was only allowed to speak for a few minutes before being cut off by board members, who then went into executive session.

According to an April 30 affidavit signed by Dreaming Bear, when the board returned from the session, they "announced that if I or any other senior wanted to receive a diploma in the graduation ceremony, we would have to wear a cap and gown over any other clothing to receive the diploma. The School Board said that only after receiving our diploma could we remove our cap and gown and show our traditional clothing."

The lawsuit claims that, by denying Dreaming Bear the right to wear his tribal clothing in the public ceremony, the Oelrichs School Board violated his First Amendment right to free speech.

Dreaming Bear's attorney, Jim Leach, said that federal district judge Jeffrey Viken has scheduled a hearing for a preliminary and permanent injunction for May 13 in Rapid City. At the hearing, the plaintiff (Dreaming Bear) goes to the judge, and "points out that with graduation set for May 22, we have to do something" quickly, Leach explained. If Viken rules in Dreaming Bear's favor, he will be allowed to wear his tribal dress at the graduation ceremony. Dreaming Bear stated that he pursued legal action so that "other Lakota people who graduate from my high school in the future, and other high schools, have the opportunity to wear traditional clothing at high school graduation if they choose to do so."

When questioned about Dreaming Bear's request to wear his traditional clothing at graduation, Superintendent Jaske was quoted by the Argus Leader as saying "[Dreaming Bear] should have gone to Pine Ridge or Red Cloud. That is his choice." Jaske went on to state, "No one holds a gun to these kids' heads and says they have to come [to school] at Oelrichs." Jaske also told the Argus Leader that seniors, including Dreaming Bear, signed an agreement stating they will wear caps and gowns while crossing the stage at graduation.

When contacted, Jaske had no comment on the suit, and stated that he and the other defendants were not aware of the filing as of mid-morning Monday. Calls to the other defendants were not returned.

The lawsuit comes just under three months after South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds proclaimed 2010 the "Year of Unity" in South Dakota, a proclamation intended to promote cultural healing between Native and non-Native peoples in South Dakota.

The suppression of Dreaming Bear's right to wear his traditional clothing flies in the face of that proclamation, according to Layli-Sammimi-Moore, a Conflict Transformation Specialist at the Society for the Advancement of Native Issues - Today (SANI-T) in Rapid City, who first handled Dreaming Bear's case. The case "is only solidifying community members' concerns that the Year of Unity proclamation can prove superficial and ineffective. Discrimination is happening every day in South Dakota, and people in power are pretending like they aren't aware of such injustices," she said.

Elizabeth Cook Lynn, Professor of English and Native American Studies at Eastern Washington State University, a decorated Indian Studies scholar who filed an affidavit in the case on Dreaming Bear's behalf, said of the case: "It's an important thing to do, and I congratulate him for doing it." Cook-Lynn went on to relate the issue of Native free speech to other events she's witnessed over the years. "This is nothing new . . . in 1970, my friend Vince Two Eagle was graduating from high school in Yankton, and wanted to wear a medallion his grandmother had made him. But the school board said no. Vince didn't have the money to get any lawyers or anything, so he just didn't go to graduation," she said.

"I'm very supportive of [Dreaming Bear]" Cook-Lynn said, and she is proud that he is willing "to defend himself, his culture, and his people, because that's what this is about.

YOU CAN FIND THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE.