Flatwater Free Press first reported this story. It is Nebraska's first independent newsroom that focuses on feature stories and investigations.
It's early summer, and a Lakota woman gazes deep into the trees, past their shadows and her dark eyes, misting up.
Norma LeRoy tries understand why a school secretary cut her daughters' hair in spring 2020 without her consent. LeRoy was informed by the secretary that lice was not found in her hair.
LeRoy feels like only a few people in this remote area of Nebraska's Cherry County can understand what they took. Rosebud Sioux, 36, must turn away from her children and toward the trees to protect them from her tears.
Hair is sacred to her people. It is a Lakota tradition to cut your hair.
LeRoy stated that happiness, goodness, and the well-being of life are what takes away all the rest. Native Americans are very conscious of their hair. It comes from the spirit realm, and was given to us.
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Kilgore is a small town of 79 people, located less than four miles from South Dakota's Rosebud Indian Reservation. Hair cutting has dark past. There are many stories of Native Americans who were compelled to cut their hair in boarding schools. This was done to make them more white. LeRoy Johnson and Alice Johnson, LeRoy's wife, say that their daughters aged 12 and 7 lost something similar to those boarding school children. Three of their grandmothers also died immediately after and right after the hair cut.
Wkuza.
LeRoy stated that it brought bad luck.
LeRoy stated that lice can't be contracted if your hair is clean.
Others agree that the secretary's heartfelt wishes should not be overlooked.
Norma LeRoy and Alice Johnson, both 7 and 12, hold their daughters in Valentine City Park, May 21st. They filed a lawsuit against Cody Kilgore Unified Schools alleging that their daughters' hair had been cut in violation to Lakota religious, cultural and civil rights.
George Johnson, a retired rancher from Cody, just 15 miles from Kilgore was a member of the school board when it hired its secretary decades ago.
Johnson stated that Johnson's secretary was responsible for the school's management, as well as caring for Johnson and his children. She advocated for children who couldn't afford boots, coats, or backpacks. Johnson stated that the school sometimes trims hair to prevent lice from spreading.
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Johnson stated that Johnson doesn't know the details of this case but said there was a reason.
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Johnson stated that Johnson did not believe she was doing this to incite animosity or punish anyone. Johnson said she did it for the children and to keep the school safe. I can assure you that she is not like that.
The Cody-Kilgore Unified Schools District was sued by the mothers on May 17. Mothers claim their rights under the First Amendment were violated.
All calls, emails, texts, and Facebook messages to the secretary, school superintendent, ex-superintendant, and six members of the school board went unanswered. Chuck Wilbrand, a Lincoln-based schools lawyer from Knudsen Law Firm, declined to comment.
The school and its attorney filed a motion for dismissal on July 15. According to the motion, school officials did not know that hair cutting is culturally insensitive. The former superintendent of the school agreed not to do so in the future.
Johnson and LeRoy were not pleased with the outcome. They claimed that the school had violated their culture in the same way as Native culture.
Johnson stated that Johnson wanted people to know that touching another child's child is not allowed. Each religion has its beliefs. Each culture has its beliefs. We all have rules we follow. That is what I want to share with people.
"Wait, who did your hair?"
You need to learn about the Lakota star woman to understand how hair is important.
According to legend, long ago, a woman used to sit in the Big Dipper. She grew her hair so long that she could reach Earth alone. She cut her hair when she arrived.
LeRoy stated that she cut her hair because she had to make a living. She used her hair to create that life. We say that women with long hair must be restricted. Their hair is their spiritual home. You can cut their hair and they will be gone.
These stories were the foundation of LeRoy's childhood. She learned the Lakota language and ceremonies from her grandmother, who lived on the Rosebud reservation where she spent most of her adult life.
Norma LeRoy and Alice Johnson, both 7 and 12, hold their daughters in Valentine City Park, May 21st. They filed a lawsuit against Cody Kilgore Unified Schools alleging that their daughters' hair had been cut in violation to Lakota religious, cultural and civil rights.
Johnson and LeRoy met via Facebook in 2015, and they were married one year later. Both had daughters from previous marriages, and they later had another. They raised their four children following Lakota traditions.
They are raising their children in a small, predominantly white Nebraska town, which was not a problem up until March 2, 2020.
Johnson replied, "Wait, who cut your hair?" Johnson was asked by her 10-year old daughter about the incident.
They told their mother that the school secretary had done it. The superintendent confirmed that it was a head lice test. The school's student handbook does not explain how lice checks are done.
Books and history curriculum were written by white people. What about children of color?
The school district stated that although hair cutting is not a written policy, it would sometimes trim a single strand of hair containing the louse and tape it onto a piece paper. It also said that it had taken steps to rectify the situation, including agreeing to not cut the hair again on March 13. The school district gave one strand back to the family to be burned in compliance with Lakota beliefs.
The mothers drove to Rosebud Reservation after the hair was cut. They visited Waycee His Holy horse, a spiritual leader and reservation officer, as well as LeRoys cousin who performed rituals to protect their spirits.
I felt hurt, betrayal and anger, according to Lila Kills In Sight, the mother of the spiritual leaders. She also bathed the children in a sponge during rituals. We are in a new age and I thought everyone knew something about Native peoples and how they do things.
They behaved as if they had done nothing wrong.
Zitkla- Lakota activist and author Zitkla- photographed in 1898. She was forced to be sheared as a child. She wrote about the experience as an adult: "I cried aloud, shaking all the time until I felt cold blades against my neck and heard them gnaw at one of my thick braids. I lost my soul. I was now one of many animals being driven by a herder.
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Raw emotions emerged as the story was shared on social media.
It's a huge eye opener that the seventh, eighth, and tenth generations have to go through it all again, LeRoy stated.
The Civilization Fund Act was signed by the United States on March 3, 1819. This marked the beginning of a new era in which Native children were separated from their families in boarding schools across the country, including Nebraska.
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...All Indians in the race should be killed. Capt. Famously, Richard H. Pratt, founder of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School was quoted in 1892.
In 1884, Christian missionaries arrived in South Dakota's Yankton Reservation to take 8-year-old Zitkla from her mother.
Zitkla- wrote 1900 about her hair cutting. I recall being pulled out. I refused to give up and was taken downstairs, tied in a chair. I began to cry out loud, shaking my head as I heard the sharp blades of scissors press against my neck. I could hear them chewing off one of my thick braids. Then, I lost my heart. I was just one of many animals being driven by a herder.
"Now times are changing" and "we can speak up."
Johnson, LeRoy, and a group of grandmothers drove up to the Cody Kilgore Unified School Board of Education meeting on March 9 to share their stories. The mothers read out a letter to the board members, which they then asked for training in cultural sensitivity.
According to minutes of the meeting, Adam Naslund was elected president of the school board and thanked them for sharing their knowledge.
Mothers and the ACLU claimed that the school had since stopped offering cultural sensitivity training. The school district argued that it has never discriminated and took immediate action to stop future hair cuts.
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The motion refers to the fact that it recalls boarding schools.
The hair-cutting incident is a painful reminder for mothers and Lakota leaders of past and current repression. They hope that the civil case will be a voice for generations of Lakota children, who have suffered silently.
Johnson stated that Johnson didn't know Johnson and was unable to stand up for the little girl. We can now speak out about these issues because times have changed.
This article first appeared on USA TODAY Handout. A Nebraska school conducts lice checks, and a Lakota family experiences anguish.
