Sued over haircut

The producers of Steven Spielberg’s TV miniseries Into the West have been sued over a haircut given to one of the actresses involved.

The eight-year-old Mescalero Apache girl, who plays a boy in the series because the casting call apparently failed to bring in enough male extras, had her hair cut by a stylist in order "to make her look more 'Indian' and like a male Indian child," the suit specifies.

But the Mescalero tradition forbids cutting a girl’s hair untilshe's reached puberty, and now Christina Ponce’s family has sued both the stylist and show producers Turner Films Inc. claiming they weren’t asked permission before their daughter's hair was lopped off.

"Just because you're wealthy, you don't do something without checking first," fumed the girl’s father Danny Ponce.

To prepare for womanhood, Mescalero girls take part in a sacred coming-of-age ceremony that requires their hair to reach the waist. Before it was cut, Christina's hair reached midway down her back. It has since grown to about her collar.

"This has to do with the culture of a tribal member," Ponce said.

The suit was filed in federal court on March 6th, and seeks $250,000 for emotional distress and $75,000 in damages.

The production company hasn’t commented on the suit.

According to legal documents, Christina Ponce responded to the show's open casting call through her parents last March.