South Dakota
South Dakota soldier gets OK for long hair, feather to honor Native heritage
Moses Brave Heart grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, where he says positive role models were hard to find. Now, he wants to be that role model and hopes a religious accommodation to grow his hair long in the tradition of his heritage as an Oglala Sioux will help him spread that message.
“The mindset is in order to be successful and have a better life, you got to move away from the reservation,” Brave Heart, a specialist in the South Dakota National Guard, told Task & Purpose. “You gotta move away from home. That’s what a lot of people do. Then where’s all the role models? It’s as simple as if you see a young native driving a nice car. I want to give younger kids that hope. Like, ‘if he could do it, I could do it, too.’”
After high school, Brave Heart knew he wanted to start a career in law enforcement and saw the military as a road to that career. But wanting to remain close to home, he decided that joining the National Guard would be the best route.
“You can get the benefits and what not, and still volunteer for deployments,” he said. “But my whole goal was to be a good role model by coming back and showing other Native Americans I could have a good life. It’s why I pushed for this accommodation.”
Brave Heart began pushing for an accommodation in October of 2022 and it was approved in May 2023. He’s spent the year since growing it out.
Under the accommodation, which has been extended to a handful of Native soldiers and Air Force airmen, Brave Heart is subject to Army female grooming standards in length and style of hair. He can also wear traditional Sioux head decorations for Army portraits, including an eagle feather.
Sioux add feathers for significant life events. Brave Heart wears one, which he received when he graduated from high school.
“I get the weird looks, and I expected looks because it’s not normal to see a male in uniform with long hair. I look at it as an opportunity to tell them about our culture,” Brave Heart said. “We view it as an extension of our spirit, is what I always tell them. The only time we would cut it off is if we lose someone close to us. It would be part of the grieving process to cut it off. And what we do with it is either to burn it or burial.”
Brave Heart said that Army grooming standards had come up when his mom’s brother passed away a few months ago, when his hair was still short — too short, he says, to even cut off ceremonially for his uncle’s passing.
When he joined the Army National Guard, in 2020, Brave Heart said, he gave little thought to hair requirements.
“I knew I wanted to go into law enforcement and the military, and at the time thought, well, I can only do that with short hair and that’s how it’s got to be,” he said.
Screen capture from South Dakota National Guard Facebook.
He spent four years with the North Dakota Army National Guard before transferring to the South Dakota Guard’s 235th Military Police Company in April.
He began to look into a religious waiver after reading about Connor Crawn, an Air Force security forces airmen who received a religious accommodation for his Mohawk Nation heritage.
“I reached out to him,” Brave Heart said. “You know, if the Air Force could do it, why not?”
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He also credits a fellow North Dakota Guardsman, Capt. Nathan Johnson, with helping him push the accommodation through.
“The thing that really pushed me was that I wanted to be in uniform and also express my culture, and long hair is significant in all Native American tribes,” Brave Heart said in a release. “So being in the Army and being told ‘Be All You Can Be,’ well this is a part of me, and Capt. Johnson was really excited and supportive to help me get this.”
When word spread of his accommodation on social media, he said, there was a predictable amount of negative comments, mostly from soldiers from past eras. One voice, though, surprised him.
“I had an uncle that was in the Marines,” Brave Heart said. “He was one of them that kind of gave me some pushback on that. He was like, ya know, ‘you should stay disciplined!’ And he was one of my role models growing up.”
But he has no regrets.
“I just turn it all into noise because I’m being strong in my beliefs and culture,” Brave Heart said.
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The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at June 28, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from June 28 drawing
04-11-31-54-58, Bonus: 03
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
- Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
- Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.
When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
- Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.
GUTHRIE, Okla. — Hadley Peppel and Team South Dakota had a strong showing at the National Junior High Finals Rodeo, which ran from June 21-27 at the Lazy E Arena.
Peppel, who hails from Herrick, was the winner in the bareback riding short-go on Saturday and finished second in the aggregate over three runs, finishing with 192 points and earning $870.71. Jace Wild Green, of Dexter, New Mexico, was the aggregate champion with a score of 198 and claiming $1,160.95.
Peppel was first in the short-go with 67 points and Wild Green was second with 62 points. Wild Green won both of the first two performances during the week, scoring 73- and 63-point rides, respectively. Peppel also took fourth in the first-go with a ride of 66 points.
In boys goat tying, Henry’s Ace Lammers finished as the champion with a total time of 27.99 seconds, powered by a first-place effort in the short-go (8.28 seconds). Lammers earned $1,608.53, plus another $618.66 for the short-go.
Powered by Lammers and Peppel, South Dakota’s boys participants finished third as a team with 4,525 points, only behind Texas (7,080) and Utah (6,585). Overall, South Dakota finished fourth in the team standings with 5,865 points, which was won by Texas (10.208.33), followed by Utah (7,780) and Oklahoma (7,520) and South Dakota. The South Dakota girls participants were fifth in the girls team standings with 1,920 points.
In the second-go of the ribbon roping event, a pair of South Dakota teams fared well. Colome’s Jakob Heath and Miller’s Grace Saiegna had the second-best time in 7.64 seconds, earning $1,497.02. Salenga was also sixth in the all-around cowgirl final standings, scoring 670 points. Wessington Springs’ Wyatt Fagerhaug and Buffalo’s Tommi Holmes teamed up to finish fourth in their ribbon roping performance in a time of 7.87 seconds, earning $953.63.
In barrel racing, Fort Pierre’s Emry Dowling took third in the aggregate timing with a time of 45.51 seconds, good for $1,201.43. Hadlee Landers, of Lawton, Oklahoma, won with a time of 44.514 seconds won the overall title, with Williams, Arizona’s Crosslyn Vest taking second (45.22 seconds). Dowling was also third-fastest in the short-go finals (15.031 seconds), which earned her $462.09, and she was fourth in the first-go (15.193 seconds).
Valentine, Nebraska’s Talon Scheer, who competed for Team South Dakota, had top-10 performances in the girls breakaway and goat tying in the first round of performances, taking fifth in the breakaway and 10th in the goat tying.
In the light rifle shooting competition, Ruger Pelster, of Harrison, Neb., finished third with a three-event score of 327 targets. Chisum Pelster was 11th (312 targets) and Grace Gesinger, of White River, was 13th (307 targets) in the finals.
Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “Mitchell Republic.” Often, the “Mitchell Republic” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.
The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at June 27, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from June 27 drawing
03-16-28-30-59, Powerball: 11, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from June 27 drawing
03-08-18-22-39, Star Ball: 06, ASB: 02
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Dakota Cash numbers from June 27 drawing
02-21-25-30-32
Check Dakota Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from June 27 drawing
26-32-38-51-52, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
- Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
- Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.
When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
- Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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