Mohawk man mocked for traditional braid at Costco in Laval

A Kanesatake man is calling for better training after he says he was recently mocked by a Costco employee.

A Kanesatake man says he was recently mocked by a Costco employee about his hair.

Kane Montour wears a traditional braid as a proud reminder of his Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) culture, and, while shopping for work supplies at the Costco in Laval, he says an employee mocked it.

“‘What is up with your hair?’” Montour recalls the employee saying.

Montour is a security coordinator in the community about 40 minutes north of Montreal.

He said he tried to brush it off, but says she continued.

“[She] wouldn’t stop, and she’s like, ‘You’re bald up front, bald on the side,’ she says, ‘But you have long hair in a back. Like, how does that even happen?’” said Montour. “Just very, like, condescending about it.”

He was so taken aback that his colleague stepped in.

“He says, ‘It is heritage. That’s our culture,’” said Montour. “And the woman turns around and she says, ‘Whoa, what kind of culture is that?’”

The exchange left Montour shaken.

“I felt about that small because I was just embarrassed,” he said. “And everybody was just looking at me.”

Bronwyn Kawenahawe Johns works at the Kahnawake Tourism office and gives guided tours to visitors to the community.

She says that she often explains that many Indigenous cultures believe strength is found in a person’s hair.

“It was always part of culture and being brought into the residential schools, when that whole process started in the 1800s, that was the first thing that was done when a child was brought into the school, was to cut their hair, give them the exact same haircut,” she said. “To really take away that identity and that connection to the culture.”

For Montour, wearing his braid is a right that many in his family didn’t have.

“Prior to that day, I was proud to say, ‘Hey! I’m a Mohawk,’” he said. “Afterwards, for that brief moment, the way that woman made me feel, I was ashamed.”

Kane said the store manager was helpful, and he was told someone would call him, but when he didn’t hear back, he called the store and spoke to another person.

“She told me she did speak to the woman that made the remarks, said she was sorry,” said Montour.

CTV News reached out to the Laval Costco manager, but he declined to comment.

Montrou said he wants to see action from Costco.

“I think they really need to educate their employees,” he said.