National Guard Specialist looking to educate others on cultural significance of Indigenous hair [Video]

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – For a lot of people, hair is seen as making a fashion statement or changing one’s look.

However, for one member of the South Dakota Army National Guard, it goes deeper than that.

It’s long been a requirement for people enlisting in the military to have their hair cut short and maintain it during their time of service, a pill that was hard to swallow for Moses Brave Heart.

“Even before signing up, I knew that was a thing so, I was just like, kind of accepted with it, but deep down it was more of like, you know, it didn’t sit well with me,” Brave Heart said.

Specialist Brave Heart, from the Oglala Sioux Tribe, joined the North Dakota National Guard in 2020. To join the military, he made a tough decision of having to cut his hair due to guard standards.

However, the …