RAPID CITY, SD (KOTA) – For many people, hair is seen as a fashion statement or something that changes a person’s appearance.

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

It has long been a requirement for military service members to cut their hair short and maintain it throughout their service; This was a hard pill to swallow for Moses Braveheart.

“I knew it was a thing even before I signed up, so I kind of accepted it, but it was actually more like it didn’t sit well with me,” Brave Heart said. .

Specialist Braveheart from the Oglala Sioux Tribe joined the North Dakota National Guard in 2020. He made the difficult decision to join the army, having to cut his hair due to safety standards.

But the Pine Ridge native was later given good news.

“It wasn’t until about three years later that I realized there was an exception to the policy,” Brave Heart said.

Brave Heart first realized its potential to be an exception to hair policy during his inauguration in 2022. He was happy to hear this news because of what his hair represented.

“The only time we cut it or trim it or do anything like that is when we lose someone. So that becomes part of the grieving process, you know. “Whenever we lose someone close to us, we lose a piece of ourselves, and then we usually burn or cut it,” Brave Heart explained.

His exception to the policy was approved by the Department of Defense in May 2023, giving him the opportunity to finally let his hair grow back.

“It was pretty big for me, you know, I felt like that feeling of joy in the pit of my stomach and I kind of cried tears of joy,” Brave Heart said.

Some of the support he received from others as he fought for an exception to the policy was instrumental throughout the process.

“One of the requirements was letters of support from other registered members. So I got a few people from the North Dakota (National) Guard and then I got a letter of support from a spiritual advisor,” he told Brave Heart.

Following the policy approval exception, Braveheart now turns its focus to training people who want to join the military without making any cuts.

“I was reading some of the comments on the Facebook post, a lot of which I didn’t know about, but not too many people realize the importance of long hair in Native American tribes as you know. So I’m really excited to announce this news to the public,” Brave Heart said.

Brave Heart was transferred to the South Dakota National Guard in 2024 and can’t wait for all his hair to grow back.

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