There is a big controversy right now about a young Native boy in Thunder Bay, Ontario who was trying to grow his hair out for traditional reasons. He was learning how to dance traditional and wanted long hair. Well he went to school and one of the teacher’s aides cut off his hair, made him stand in front of a mirror and look at himself.

Our hair is our pride, my hair is down to the end of my back. I have been taught that our hair is sacred. I also keep any hair that falls out of my head. And burn it. I have been taught that people can take your hair and do bad medicine on you. I also rarely cut my hair. I have been taught that hair is only cut when someone close to you passes to the other side. 

Our history of our hair goes back to the days of residential schools, when once entered into the school. Priests and nuns would chop off their hair. Giving girls and boys short hairstyles. They reasoned that is was about a lice problem. But they were stripping away any Native Pride that these children had.

No one has the right to do this to a child. I don’t understand what was going on in this Aides head that made her think it was okay to touch another person’s child and make a change on their apperance. 

The Aide has been suspended and the mother of the child is looking to charge.