U.S. Supreme Court denies entry to Yakama Nation chairman over headdress

Security at the U.S. Supreme court denied entry to the Yakama Nation Tribal Council Chairman over his traditional headdress Tuesday morning.

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Chairman JoDe Goudy arrived in full, traditional clothing at the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday to hear oral arguments concerning the Yakama Nation being exempt from a Washington state fuel tax on imported gasoline to the tribe’s reservation.

Early in the morning before arriving at the U.S. Supreme Court, Goudy expressed initial doubt about whether he would be allowed entry in full regalia.

“Time to find out if the Supreme Court will let me in,” he posted on Facebook at 5:32 a.m. Tuesday.

Goudy was allowed in the building, but was stopped before he could enter the courtroom, with security telling him that he would not be permitted to wear his headdress. The concerns from security were two-fold, over a potential obstruction of fellow attendees’ views, and the possibility of unduly outside influence to litigants.

In a live video, security told him that “the main overall thing is we do not want to draw attention to a particular case or to a particular litigant in the case so the court is not influenced by that.”

“Yakama Nation treaty case is on trial at the Supreme Court today. I cannot wear my traditional regalia before the Supreme Court for the reasons that were stated, but I refuse to take off my traditional regalia,” Goudy said in that same video.

“Prayers to everybody out there, prayers for the Yakama Nation, prayers for our treaty, prayers for all our native nations,” he added.

Goudy was permitted to remain in the building downstairs.

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