Air Force security troop wins right to wear braid as symbol of indigenous heritage
After a Tik Tok video, Native troops from across the military reached out for help navigating the religious accommodation process.
BY PATTY NIEBERG | PUBLISHED NOV 9, 2023 5:44 PM EST
Connor Crawn celebrated receiving a religious accomodation to wear his hair in a distinctive braid by making a Tik Tok video. He was, he believed, the first Native American in the U.S. military to win the right to wear his hair in a long braid as a symbol of his indigenous heritage and faith.
“Not a lot of people understand or know what hair length or having long hair means in a lot of different native cultures,” Crawn said in the video which had nearly 24,000 views and over 2,000 comments. “This is a huge deal, because as far as I know, within modern United States military history, I’m the first Native American to be approved a religious accommodation request.”
Crawn is Kanien’kehà:ka, or the Mohawk Nation, one of the five nations of the Iroquois, whose origins trace to an area in and around present-day upstate New York and Montreal, Canada. Since he announced the approval of his religious accomodation, he said, dozens of Native men in the Air Force, Army and Marines to reach out to him for mentorship, including through his Tik Tok video.
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/indigenous-hair-exemption-air-force/
