Family wants answers after Indigenous man's braids cut while in Edmonton hospital

Indigenous man's braids cut

Photo: The Canadian Press

The family members of an Indigenous man whose braids were cut off and thrown away while he was staying in an Edmonton hospital are still seeking answers more than six months later. A sign for a hospital in Montreal, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Family of an Indigenous man whose braids were cut and thrown away while he was staying in an Edmonton hospital want answers.

Eve Adams says this past spring she went to visit her husband Dexter at Edmonton’s Royal Alexandra Hospital only to find the 84-year-old's braids, his eagle feather and some medicine had been put in the garbage can.

Dexter's niece Kathleen Crowe says in the months that have followed the family has never received an explanation or an apology from hospital staff.

Crowe says the braids held a deep cultural meaning, and to have them cut off without her uncle's consent was deeply harmful.

She says the incident crushed her uncle, who has since passed away.

Alberta Health officials could not be immediately reached for comment.