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BOYS WITH BRAIDS PANEL




Students from Wolf Creek School listened to speakers about the role of hair braids in Lakota culture. Courtesy photo.

Students from Wolf Creek School listened to speakers about the role of hair braids in Lakota culture. Courtesy photo.

PINE RIDGE – Oglala Lakota County Schools hosted a “Boys with Braids” event this past week at the Wolf Creek School.

For Lakota people, hair holds a sacred place within their culture. Historically, both men and women grew their hair long and would only cut it during certain times of their life in accordance with traditional protocols. Specific hairstyles were even used to convey information about an individual to others. The onset of the boarding school era and decades of assimilationist federal policy, however, has impacted the psyche of indigenous children for generations had resulted in many outward expressions of Lakota culture being pushed underground.

In the 1970s, the indigenous civil rights movement created a space where Lakota males felt comfortable once again with growing their hair out in the same way their ancestors had done for centuries. Today, it is far more common to see young Lakota males with their hair long.

Sometimes, however, historical trauma and the lasting impacts of assimilation attempts on Native American cultures can manifest itself in strange ways. Sometimes this damage can lead to cultural self-hate and the bullying of young males who wear their hair long. To combat this lasting effect of colonialism, Boys With Braids was started in Winnipeg, Canada on March 10, 2016, at the University of Winnipeg. Since then spin-offs of this original event have been organized all across Indian Country.

Several hundred students attended the Boys With Braids panel hosted by Wolf Creek School. Courtesy photo.

Several hundred students attended the Boys With Braids panel hosted by Wolf Creek School. Courtesy photo.

The organization says that the events they originally created are gatherings “to share Indigenous teachings about the sacredness of hair, to foster a sense of pride for boys who choose to grow their hair long and using education as a means of interrupting teasing, bullying, and harassment.”

The event held at Wolf Creek featured a panel consisting of local community members: Bryan Brewer Sr., Oi Zephier, Joey Giago, and Robert Two Crow. The event was organized by school administrators Misty Brave and Alicia Stolley.

Boys With Braids was started in Winnipeg, Canada on March 10, 2016, at the University of Winnipeg. Since then spin-offs of this original event have been organized all across Indian Country. Courtesy photo.

Boys With Braids was started in Winnipeg, Canada on March 10, 2016, at the University of Winnipeg. Since then spin-offs of this original event have been organized all across Indian Country. Courtesy photo.

The panel shared personal experiences about living as a man with a braid as well as cultural teachings.

“The principals asked us to provide some encouragement to those boys so that’s what this was about. We also wanted to educate all the students about the importance of long hair in Lakota culture in history and today. The panel members all shared our stories. We talked to all the students, long and short haired,” said Oi Zephier.

“I invited them all down to join in a circle if they wanted to grow their hair out and we must’ve had 100 boys with long and short hair on the gym floor. It was a great experience for us as elders to these boys. It was inspiring to see them wanting to have long hair too,” he added.

(Contact Brandon Ecoffey at ecoffeyb@gmail.com)

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