Crowe

On May 6th Eve Adams went to visit her husband Dexter Adams who had been a patient in the Royal Alex Hospital since March. Imagine how Eve felt when she entered Dexter's room and saw that his braids had been cut off and thrown into the garbage along with two other meaningful possessions. Eve was horrified because she knew Dexter had been in day school when it was not safe to have long hair so he decided to grow his hair out when he became older. Eve and other family members know that braids are deeply significant in Indigenous culture and represented identity and spirituality for Dexter as well as many other Indigenous males and in the Indigenous community.

The braid incident led to a Tuesday news conference arranged by the Alberta NDP. Kathleen Crowe, Dexter Adam's niece spoke to reporters at the conference and called for changes to improve the care received by Indigenous people in Canada’s health-care system.

Read the Global News for more information on what has happened since the braid incident.