The Ojibwe song was played outside the graduation in northern Minnesota after the school board removed it from the ceremony

HINCKLEY, Minn. — A familiar sound was missing from a high school graduation ceremony Friday evening.

Last week, the Hinckley-Finlayson school board voted to not allow a traditional Ojibwe song during the graduation ceremony. The Ojibwe Traveling Song is meant to symbolize the transition from high school to the future.

The school has a large indigenous population, and in the weeks leading up to graduation, an online petition in favor of bringing the song back to graduation gathered more than 2,000 signatures. On May 15, more than fifty students gathered outside the high school and demanded a reversal of the school board’s decision.

Despite the students’ best efforts, Friday evening’s graduation went ahead as planned, without drumming. However, the song was played at a gathering in the parking lot.

“This is our country, occupied since before it was a state, and there is no reason for it our ceremonies should not be involved in the entire graduation ceremony of this school,” said Commissioner of Education for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Niiyo Gonzales.

The district said it was canceling all extracurricular group presentations by students at the graduation ceremony. Gonzales called the decision shameful.

Note: The above video first aired on May 15.