MASKOKE, Oklv.- This year Hilldale High School held an eagle feather ceremony for 56 tribal students that graduated in May. Each student was given a bald eagle feather. The feathers are intended to follow the graduates on their journey throughout life.
These feathers came from the same eagle from the National Eagle Repository in Colorado.
Lauren Kelly became certified by the National Fish and Wildlife Service to handle bald eagle feathers and distribute them to each student. Handling and blessing eagle feathers requires great care, something Kelly has learned from different tribes. Each feather distributed at the graduation ceremony was rubbed with sage, tobacco, sweet grass and cedar wood.
One of the graduates who received an eagle feather was Mvskoke citizen Catelin King, who remarked in a statement to KOTV that the ceremony meant a lot to her because it honored her tribal heritage.
In a statement from Muscogee (Creek) Nation Johnson O’Malley Manager Brittany Kesler, this ceremony was a momentous occasion.
“The Hilldale School Administration, along with the JOM/Title IV Coordinator and their committees, joined forces to celebrate this significant milestone as students move on to the next phase of their lives. Each student received an Eagle Feather, symbolizing strength, nobility, courage, perseverance, respect, and wisdom,” Kesler said.
My son was in ceremony