By Mitchell Now October 24, 2024 11:24am
RAPIDS CITY, S.D. (MITCHELLNOW) – Moses Brave Heart of the 235th Military Police Company, Special South Dakota Army National Guard, has served in the National Guard for the past five years, after finally being granted an exception to the policy in August 2023. , hair started to regrow.
Brave Heart was a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and lived most of his life on the Pine Ridge Reservation. He made the difficult decision to cut his hair to join the North Dakota National Guard in 2020 and transferred to the SDNG in April 2024.
“I wanted to go into law enforcement or the military. At the time, I thought you couldn’t do it unless you had short hair, and that’s the way you should be,” Brave Heart said.
When he joined, he didn’t initially know there was such a thing as religious accommodations. And we initially accepted that the standard was set and there was nothing we could really do about it.
“I cut my hair knowing it was for a good reason, for my career. I made the sacrifice because I knew if I kept going I wouldn’t be able to participate,” Brave Heart said.
In Lakota culture, long hair is an extension of the spirit and is usually cut only for purposes of grief or loss, after which it is buried or burned. Outside of these situations, their hair is kept long and neat to represent strength, connection to their ancestors, memories, and joy.
“The person who really helped me was Captain Johnson. He was really excited about this and wanted to help me move it forward,” Brave Heart said. Put all the pieces together. ”
Brave Heart will be deployed from 2022 to 2023, during which time it learned of possible exceptions to the policy. His journey began in October 2022. He credits Capt. Nathan Johnson of the NDNG’s 131st Military Police Battalion with helping him work on this passion project during his deployment.
“What really drove me was that I wanted to wear the uniform and express my culture. And long hair is important to all Native American tribes. So being in the Army, I wanted to ‘be everything you can be.’ That being said, this is a part of me and Captain Johnson was really excited and helped me get this,” Brave Heart said.
In May 2023, an exception to Brave Heart’s policy was approved by the Department of Defense, and he began growing his hair back. This expression of Lakota culture gave him the opportunity to educate those around him and within his own culture about military advances.
“There are certainly people who have this old-fashioned idea that being in uniform means being disciplined means men in uniform have to keep their hair short. Sometimes that look can really turn someone off. You might think, “Okay, I don’t want to do this anymore.” But I’m a strong advocate of my beliefs and my culture, so I turned it all into noise. “I’m just,” Braveheart said.
Brave Heart went on to point out that part of being in the military is fighting for people’s freedoms and rights. Through his experience, he focuses on teaching others that it is possible to join the military without cutting your hair. He also hopes his journey will lead to a better understanding among his fellow warrior-citizens about the cultural significance of hair and why it’s important.
November is American Indian Heritage Month, and stories like this one help highlight the diversity and culture of the SDNG and the U.S. military in general. The development of educational opportunities and processes that support force diversity supports the mission and community connections of rapid response forces.
