Some were from teachers, moms, dads, foster parents of native children, and they were from all ethnicities, including German, Irish, Scandinavian and Metis. Some told her stories of their own painful experiences, and others thanked her for sharing or provided messages of support. Since her post, Azure has received messages from people from far and wide.Ī “massive” amount of messages of support poured in from Oklahoma, Kansas and Hawaii, and from closer to home, from Lacombe and Drayton Valley. “Every day we will push through this, and every day, he will walk through those doors at school with pride because he is a boy with a braid.”Īzure stresses, “We love our school,” saying the school was quick to respond and it just took one discussion to address the issue.Īzure says she spoke out, not to point fingers or to create controversy, but to spread awareness and start a conversation. “There is no reason why he should come home ashamed of his hair but today he did. We will not cut his hair because people do not understand. It hurts his feelings when he is called names because of his long hair. He is proud of his hair … Sometimes he gets called a girl and other times, his peers will pull his hair ties out and has no one to help him tie his hair back up until the end of the day. In her initial reaction, she made an eloquent post to a Ponoka community Facebook page that read, in part: It was very upsetting, as other children shouldn’t feel it is OK to be touching his hair, never mind pulling out his braid, she says. “In the moment, when it happens … you’re hurt, you’re frustrated,” said Azure. When asked, Adam said the elastic had been pulled out by another child at school. His hair had been tightly braided that morning for picture day with extra hairspray, so it didn’t make sense the ties would come out on their own. She knew something wasn’t right and asked him what happened. The elastics are tight and shouldn’t come out on their own. He was upset and crying.Īzure and three of the four boys, including Adam, are members of Samson Cree Nation in Maskwacis.Īzure braids her son’s hair tightly each morning, from the nape of the neck. She became more than a little concerned, however, when her five-year-old son, Adam, came home from his school in south Edmonton with his hair undone for the second time this year. The first few months of school with a new class and a new teacher can be hard for any child, but for one Cree family with four boys who wear their long hair in braids to honour their heritage, unwanted attention and questions are inevitable.Īzure, their mother, says they are fairly used to experiencing this at the start of a school year, and her boys are resilient.
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