An Alabama teenager was denied her high school diploma and fined $1,000 for wearing a feather on her graduation cap to celebrate her Native American heritage.

Escambia Academy High School in Atmore, Ala., makes its students and staff sign a pre-graduation contract agreeing not to wear "extraneous items during graduation exercises unless approved by the administration."

Chelsey Ramer, 17, tried in vain to get approval to attach an eagle's feather to her graduation cap as a symbol of her Native culture.

"They told me that if I wore it that they would pull me off the field," Ramer, a member of the Poarch Creek Band, told NBC affiliate Local 15.

But Ramer wore it anyway and refused to sign the dress-code contract.

The school wouldn't give Ramer her diploma. She now has to fork over $1,000 to get it.

The teen, however, regrets nothing.

"It was worth it. It means a lot to me," Ramer said.