This week the New Mexico Supreme Court heard a case stemming from a lawsuit against Albuquerque Public Schools over the interactions of a high school teacher with a Native American student. That student, McKenzie Johnson, spoke with KUNM about that Halloween day in 2018. She says teacher Mary Eastin offered one student dog food, brandished a box cutter, then used scissors to cut another Native American student’s hair before calling Johnson, who is Navajo, a “bloody Indian.”
MCKENZIE JOHNSON: Even before coming into class, I did see a girl dressed up in a Pocahontas costume, and then already agitated going into class, you're just anticipating better things throughout the day. And so the intention of the classroom being decorated was for a pizza party or something, like some incentive for our grade. You know, just the lights being off, the smoke being in the classroom, us having to put our bags away and then you know, the dog food came up. The refusal came up. The box cutter came up and then the scissors came out with the girl. And then to me finally, it just felt like jab, after jab, after job, and like we were just so shell-shocked. And at the time, I was too stunned to say anything because I was so caught up in looking at the girl across the classroom from me. And so for her to say that I didn't know what to say. I was just too stunned to speak about it. And if I did, I feel like I would have acted out of anger. Like most people probably would. I felt like I just had to tell somebody right away.
KUNM: Could you tell me, in your own words, the cultural significance for Native Americans, especially with their hair, and why it was wrong for the teacher to cut it?
JOHNSON: I feel like a lot of Indigenous communities have an understanding of what hair means to us. And so it is very sacred part of us, for Navajos, what we believe in it is it holds our knowledge, our wisdom. We always have good intentions when braiding our hair and it’s encouraged to keep it long. Like not only for like our source of strength, but also for our sense of identity. And so for her to cut it, and for the student, who remains anonymous, she also understood the significance even though she doesn't truly hold like all of the traditional ideals to herself. But once I saw her crying and sweeping up her hair across the desk for me, it just, it broke my heart and seeing her run out of the classroom, like kind of ashamed or just not knowing what to do. I know what that meant.
KUNM: So tell me what were your initial reactions to today's court hearing?
JOHNSON: Even before we entered the courthouse, I feel like it was very positive. Before this, we did a whole ceremony. And so we just really got prepared, went to our traditional teachings, went to our family, and just really came together to decide on things on what to do, what to say, what not to say. Just to let things roll off of you, if things were to go bad. You know, we always had a positive mindset going into it. And so we had a lot of faith in our lawyers, and I really trusted them. So they gave us a lot of reassurance. And so I don't think I had much to worry about aside from just nerves.
KUNM: What's keeping you here? Why do you continue to fight?
JOHNSON: I feel like a lot of foresight for the future generations, because a lot of this, it's not anything selfish. Yes, it may have happened to me. But it's also happened to many generations before me with the boarding schools, even just with colonization, all of this happened before me. And so I'm standing up for those after me. And just protecting their hair, no matter what race, what gender, what sexual identity they have. It's just for the protection of all children in the classrooms and protection especially for Native children and advocacy for having that curriculum implemented in schools. So they know why our hair is significant. They know whose land they're on, they know that we're still here. And so just a lot of foresight, a lot of hearing even like storytelling, sharing other's experiences like that really gave me strength.
KUNM: What kind of ruling do you want to see?
JOHNSON: Teachers shouldn't be harassing students in class. When their parents give their children away to a public institution, they want to be protected, they want to be reassured that if anything happens, the principal will act quickly to hold the teacher accountable, make the student feel safe again, and, you know, not give up in school either. Because even as Indigenous peoples, or just people of color, we're all marginalized, and so we're all having to fight all these other things against us. And so the fact that this also happened to not only her or me, that we had to transfer schools, it's just like, how come more things weren't done? How come counselors weren't ready for us? How come the teacher wasn't fired? Instead, she was put on paid leave and then hired again in another state. So to me, that's just like a slap in the face on top of what actually happened. So from now on, what I want everybody to know or all the administrators to have in mind is that parents trusted you in your care and so you should make everything possible to make them comfortable in the classroom, make them feel safe and make them feel included, like they need to be there to learn.
Support for this coverage comes from the Thornburg Foundation.
