A Native American teen has filed a lawsuit against an Oklahoma school district after school officials tried removing her sacred eagle plume during her graduation ceremony.

Lena' Black, a member of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe and of Osage descent, sued the Broken Arrow School District in the Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow last week claiming that school officials violated her rights to free speech and free exercise of religion.

Black had worn the eagle plume on her mortarboard cap as she graduated from Broken Arrow High School in 2022, the lawsuit reads.

Eagle feathers and plumes are largely protected under federal law, making them illegal to own, with special exceptions made for members of Native American tribes.

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