BY SHEILA REGAN, TC DAILY PLANET

Photo by Dave Snyder

The smell of burning sage filled the commons area of South High School on Monday morning as what was planned as a student walk-out became a school-sanctioned assembly—and then ended up being a walk-out anyway. Students from the All Nations Program, which offers American Indian-specific programming at the school, were protesting the lack of visibility of the program, as well as a lack of cultural activities. They said activities such as drumming and “smudging,” a cleansing act using burning sage, were once regular parts of the program but have been discontinued.

Senior Winona Vizenor organized the walk-out, but called it off after speaking with Principal Cecilia Saddler, who allowed the students to have a round dance in the main commons area as well as an assembly in the auditorium. Toward the end of the assembly, after getting text messages from people saying they weren’t being let out of their classes, Vizenor went forward with the walk-out anyway. The students who walked out were not let back into the school until pressure from community activists made the school allow some to come back in to get their jackets and keys.

“This is a really big success,” said Vizenor at the assembly, where around 1,000 people packed the auditorium. “This was supposed to be a walk-out.” She explained that the principal, Cecilia Saddler, had offered her space to have a round dance in the commons area and access to the auditorium for an assembly.

“At first I said no,” Vizenor said, but when the administration accommodated by saying the students would be allowed to smudge on a daily basis, to begin drumming, and organize a powwow this spring, she decided that with that much school support, they would not walk out. That changed later when she found out that some students weren’t being allowed out of their classes. Nearly 300 students walked out.