My cousin refuses to cut her son's hair because of his Native heritage, but the kid is miserable and hates his long hair. Are there other ways to honour his heritage without involving his hair?

My cousin and I are pretty close. She has a seven year old son and she refuses to cut his hair. it has been cut twice, both times because he cut it himself at school (the first time was literally the first day of kindergarten). He was ecstatic and so proud of himself. She ended up needing to get it cut short both times because obviously self-cuts done by kids are messy.

She refuses to cut it because his dad is Native, and she says it honours his heritage. This kid is miserable. He HATES his hair and has always hated his hair long.

He stayed with me this weekend and when I asked him what he wanted for Christmas, he said "A haircut!" I said he needed to check with his mom, but he's 7 and said, "Oh I know I'm getting it. It's the only thing I asked Santa for!"

We talked about why he wants his hair cut and it's because he likes having short hair. He hates brushing it and braiding it or putting it in a pony tail. He also constantly gets mistaken for a girl too, which is not fun for a 7 year old boy. He's always begging my cousin to let him get it cut because it's in his eyes.

I told my cousin about it and she told me that he's not allowed to cut his hair because it dishonors his heritage. I asked what else he could do to honour his heritage and she said they don't like the other traditions. I suggested letting her son find a tradition that he likes, but she says that they chose long hair and he just has to deal with it.

Part of me is thinking, just take the kid and get his hair cut, get his photos with Santa, and make his Christmas. But I know for me, as a parent, if someone did something like that with my daughter I'd be devastated even if it is just hair. I would never do something like that because she's made it really clear she doesn't want his hair cut.

So instead, I was hoping someone on here might know other ways a seven year old boy can honour his Anishinaabe heritage. Also, any advice on helping either my cousin's son acclimate to long hair or helping my cousin and her husband let him cut his hair would be amazing.