Eagle Feathers, Mexican Flags at Center of Graduation Drama

High school graduations often mark the first great success that a young person achieves after years of hard work and determination. But for Native Americans and Latinos living in certain parts of the United States — including Colorado — they’ve become a fiery topic of debate.

In recent months, members of these communities have come under attack for donning cultural and religious items with their graduation regalia. The Native American Rights Fund, headquartered in Boulder, just filed a lawsuit in Oklahoma after staff members at a high school there tried to remove an eagle feather off the graduation cap of a student mid-ceremony.

Then, on May 24, Naomi Peña Villasano — a Mexican-American student at a Garfield County high school in Colorado — filed a lawsuit against her…