Manitoba wrestler cuts the hair she grew in honour of her grandfather to make weigh-in at NAIG

For Team Manitoba wrestler Emma Bear, the quickest way to make her weight class at the North American Indigenous Games meant cutting off the braids that she felt kept her close to her grandfather.

Bear was set to compete in the female 76 kg/167.5 lbs weight division but at weigh-in time, the 19-year-old from Peguis First Nation was over the limit by 0.2 kg.

"I was really disappointed at first," she said.

NAIG follows Wrestling Canada rules which state there is only one weigh-in the morning of the first day of competition, after which athletes are then divided by region and weight line. 

After the weigh-in, she went to find her dad and the rest of her family in the lobby. He knew right away something was wrong when she came out looking devastated.

"She kind of broke down and said 'I didn't make weight,'" said Desmond Bear.

Typically, wrestlers can try shed weight quickly by running or trying to reduce water weight but Emma didn't have that kind of time. 

Her father said while they waited for officials to deliberate, her coach came racing out. 

"He just about took us out like a bowling ball," said Desmond Bear.

"And he says, 'Cut her hair!'" 

The decision was hers, and the second she said "Cut it," the volunteers went running looking for scissors.

The Bear family follows traditional practices. Emma grew her hair to commemorate her grandfather Barry Bear, who died in 2021.

"In my culture back home, the way we practise is when you cut your hair, it's significant, because you grow your hair for your loved ones around," she said.

"My parents and my siblings, we all live with my grandparents growing up."

Among her parents and three siblings, she said she was the only one left to cut her hair off in his memory. 

Arriving in Halifax, she said she was reminded that this was another big thing in her life that her grandfather was not there for.

And even getting to the NAIG weigh-in was a challenge for Emma.  

She normally wrestles in the 82 kg/180.8 lbs category but another athlete had already claimed that spot. It meant that she needed to drop to the 76 kg/167.5 lbs category and she put in months of training and nutrition focus to qualify.

When the Southern Chiefs Organization shared Emma's story on Wednesday, many people commented that her grandfather would be proud of her. 

"It was like a weight taken off my shoulders stepping into the ring with my short hair," she said.

She said she will bury one braid by the ocean before she leaves and take the other one home to bury in Manitoba.