The Significance Of Hair In Native American Culture
Jan 04, 2019
There are many teachings and practices in our tribal cultures that are significant to who we are as Native people. One of many things important to our cultural identity is, our hair. Our hair is considered sacred and significant to who we are as an individual, family, and community.
In many tribes, it is believed that a person’s long hair represents a strong cultural identity. This strong cultural identity promotes self-esteem, self-respect, a sense of belonging, and a healthy sense of pride. As part of the practice in self-respect, we are taught to take good care of our hair through proper grooming. In preparation for ceremonies, we take great care in the grooming, styling, and ornamentation of our hair. Our hairstyle and ornamentation are guided by the values of our family and tribe. It is a form of creative self-expression that reinforces our connection to our family, tribe, and Creation. Some tribes will use two braids, while others will use three. Some families will paint their hair depending on the ceremony or their family’s distinction. Women and men will adorn their hair with fur wraps, woolen wraps, feathers, fluffs, and bead work for war dancing and ceremonies.
How we relate to our hair is a constant reminder of our connection to our culture and a distinct worldview grounded in the sacredness of relationships. Braiding a child’s hair is the beginning of establishing an intimate and nurturing relationship. My mother used to braid my little brother’s hair every day before school. When my grandfather died, my mother cut my brother’s hair. She expressed the sadness she felt because she could no longer sit with him and braid his hair. It was a special time of bonding for the two of them.
At pow-wows, it is common to see family members and friends brushing and braiding hair for each other. It’s a beautiful way to bond and a powerful way to reinforce the sacredness of relationships. There is a teaching about the symbolism of the braid, itself, that reaffirms this practice. It is said that single strands of hair are weak when tugged on, however, when you pull all of the hair together in a braid the hair is strong. This reinforces the value of the family and tribe along with our connection to all of creation.
When I was about 5 years old, my grandfather first told me about being forced to cut his hair when he was carted off to boarding school, and I am sure I heard this more than a dozen times as I grew up. But as I got older, he would tell me more about his experience and what it meant to him. Eventually, he told me his hair was cut in an effort to strip him of his culture and identity. Cutting his hair was their way of showing dominance over him through forced assimilation. He said that every time his hair was cut, he would cry, and every time he would cry, he would be physically punished. Unfortunately, being forced to cut our hair was a common practice in many institutions and schools across the country, and is still occurring as recent as 2018.
His story is important because we are taught as children that we don’t cut our hair unless we have experienced a significant loss, like the death of a close family member, traumatic event or significant life change. Tribes have different teachings about the value of hair and how to care for it. In our family, we are taught that our hair is a physical extension of all our thoughts, prayers, dreams, aspirations, experiences and history. When we cut our hair, it represents the end of something that once was and a new beginning. When we do have to cut our hair, it is never to be thrown away, but rather, burned with sage or sweetgrass in a ceremonial way. When our hair is burned, all of our thoughts, prayers, dreams, aspirations, experiences, and history rise to the Creator to be properly taken care of. We are then guided in the direction for our prayers to be answered. Throwing our hair away is a form of personal disrespect. So, when my Grandfather had his hair cut off and thrown away, his tears were of deep grief, confusion, helplessness, and shame. It was against everything he had ever been taught, along with grieving the loss of everything his hair represented to him. When this cultural practice was common in most Native communities, it was easy to recognize when someone in the community was grieving or experiencing a significant change in their life, because their long hair was no longer.
With our hair embodying so much of who we are, boundaries are important. Touching someone’s hair without permission is disrespectful in the Native community. Some even find that asking permission is a form of disrespect, especially with children and elders. This is not something to take personal, it’s our way of protecting ourselves from the energy of someone we know nothing about.
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Photo Credit: Esperanza Califas Tomeo
Child in photo: Willis Tomeo
107 comments
My paternal grandparents were both natives grandma a full blooded Cherokee from east Mississippi and grandfather a half breed Creek from central AL. I loved to hear the stories and lessons they would teach from them. Always an interesting inspiring storing giving a kid a more mature perspective on life’s ups and downs. Always I spent hours recalling the story and really trying to hear the underlying message. I was generally far more optimistic than the other kids my age even until now and I’m 44. Since I was 7-8 my friends parents were always taken aback by me and my unwillingness to follow the other kids into foolishness and childish situations. I remember even then being able to have long conversations with the parents and they talked to me as if Iwasnt a child . They always told me and my mom I had an old soul and that I was far beyond their kids emotionally and physically. I grew up with my grandparents in an area with few kids . Never affected me a bit. From age 8 I could come home from school grab a shotgun or rifle and hit the woods alone . With only my companion animal to watch over me. I always had a dog and they were considered a babysitter. A dog was to us another soul no different from humans. They too have a soul emotions, are very intelligent and they are more reliable than most teen babysitters. Our dogs were different from others I saw. They were never penned or chained they were free to come and go and well cared for.I saw all animals as creations of God same as me as for that matter even plants were here with purpose. If I had no intention of eating that plant or animal I wouldn’t disturb it break it or kill it for fun. I had respect for all life as all life was necessary to sustain me and my world as He intended. I also was never lied to about spirits or angels and demons . I was instead told about the mystery of the spirit world. To accept it and respect all spirits good or malicious human animal land waterair spirits who were never human but elementals and angel and demons . Respect them and don’t disturb them and never dabble in spiritual rituals and communication for that would only bring about bad things . So when things were good we thanked the earth and spirits . When it was bad we appeased the dark forces so they would move on to another place. I never had fear of that realm. But I wasn’t taught to . Also I was really optimistic always seeing even in a bad time a lesson that was being taught , a learning experience. I always made excellent grades and was a superior athlete at any sport I tried to play. At the time others said I was lucky but I knew I was just different. When my friends went to vacation after vacation I was working in the log woods with my grandpa and dad and cousins using miles to pull logs out of the woods at 9 . Plowing with those miles and horses before I started school. I was being brought up old school I mean real old school. Now I wouldn’t trade that knowledge for any amount of money. After a day of working I would ride home bareback and without reigns and after thousands of hours it was like the animal and I were one communicating with out saying a word. Before I was 10 I was a deadly shot with a homemade bow from a moving horse bareback holding on to their long mane to guide them and for balance . Later on when my friends got dirt bikes and tabs I did too but if they came to stay over we never rode them we rode horses everywhere. I got a lot of laughs at them with saddle and reigns still getting thrown or knocked off and I was glued to the back of mine with nothing but a blanket. So while they tried to learn how Ilived they also had a new respect for me and my folks. We too had long hair my grandpa was to his hip and by 15 mine was waist length. This was in a country town in Alabama in the late 80s early 90s when long hair was taboo. I was told several times by coaches in high school cut that hair or you will never see the field no matter how good you are. And I always refused and was punished over and over with running and extra exercise after practice. Still I refused to comment ly. No one ever asked why I wouldn’t comply . Until my Junior year after 3 years of trying to run me to death or make me comply or quit. The head football coach asked why not just cut it . So I enlightened him. First long hair was a symbolic of a single man and a good strong young man who had respect for the way of the people before me. See after marriage a woman can either keep her mans hair braided and nice or she can ask him to shorten it to start growing all over as they begin a new life together. If a married man is unfaithful he is easily spotted by his shorter hair or his fancy braids . And he can’t just fake long hair waist length hair like a single man so it’s also a deterrent to cheat. But there’s more our hair is also our extensions of our own nervous system and our senses are heightened by our long sensitive hair. It is said a young man asleep in a teepee near the outside of the camp can sense the enemy in the vicinity at night even as he sleeps his hair is connected with the earth and the vibes the earth puts off and a change will awaken him so he can alert others. Think the movie Avatar how they plugged in to the tree of life and also the animals they had they plugged into them with the extension of their nerves and they communicate with one another through those extensions . That is simply a take on natives and their hair. In a story my grandpa said the aArmy took 20 good trackers from the Indians and took them to train they put those young men through all they could to test their skills and all the boys passed with ease . So it was decided to send em to fight in ww2 . They cut their hair and dressed em out . Suddenly the same skills they were masters of before they were miserable at now. They all said it’s because you made us cut our hair. That’s what made us as one with the earth the wind and water . So the recruiters went and took 20 more and this time didn’t cut their hair. It was amazing the difference between the two groups and they were actually the men who had been passed over in the first trial . So now the B team was far superior to the other guys that were the best to be found the first time the Army came to pick from them. It was decided not to cut their hair . So for the first time even the government agreed with the logic of the Natives. There is a photo that was on my grandpa mantle of a young handsome muscular man in an Army uniform with hair down to his ass. He lived through 6 years as a scout and paratrooper, eventually as a select group of Rangers . All Natives of Creek a nation all fierce fearless and seemingly one with the earth even a foreign land . None lost their life even though they were among the elite forces and always cut off or behind enemy lines . Usually depending on their own skills to eat drink survive and thrive in a hostile land. Sending vital information capturing valuable high value targets and keeping thousands of soldiers out of harms way . I had to be told by a report from the VA about his service and his bravery. And that of his brothers . I never heard about any of the gory details of war or how they saved this or that battle. I read it in a report he was given at the VA hospital as he was just beginning treatment for the cancer that took him. The day he passed he was alert he told everyone there don’t cry for him . He was about to be in the greatest moment of his life for eternity. He was saying he was anxious to see the Spirit Horse come for him and ride him into the other world. Minutes before he passed he told me quietly he was about to go that the Black Angel had been in the room for hours now , I wondered as his time got near if he could really see what we couldn’t. He smiled told me he was proud to have shared his life with me and he said he loved me something that he rarely said and that he would be there when times gotbad to
Just listen and if I wanted to I could hear his advice for me. It took years to learn to be patient and calm enough to really hear him . Yet another reason I’m glad to have learned from him the truth about the spirit world. I hope you enjoyed my story it’s spotty and long winded but I could go on for hours. Thanks for reading
I have known of the powers of hair since reading an article years ago about native Indians serving in the armed forces.when their hair was cut their perceptions were not as good. My granmother had long hair wore it in braids all her life, the nursing home cut her hair short said they couldn’t take care of it. She went into a deep depression and died shortly after. My hair is down my back as all my grandaughters. I had a talk yesterday with my 15 year old granddaughter about hair and how it enhances perception. I will be showing her this article very interesting.
Hello, I am 82% Cherokee (DNA) had hair to my ankles and my mother had our (2 brothers & myself) hair cut off while my dad was away with military. She told us the school required our hair to be cut. We didn’t get our hair… mom didn’t understand. My grandparents (dads) came for a visit and it resulted in a screaming match and us leaving with the grandparents. Dad came home and he got very angry. The military forced him to cut his hair but he said NO school was going to force his children to cut their hair again and they didn’t. Next time my hair was cut I did it as Cherokee Warrior and it was cut in mohawk fighting in Vietnam in air force (I cheated to get in). After 9 bouts of agent orange cancer/chemo my hair in finally growing back. I am a 62 (as of yesterday) year old female … A year older and a day meaner. Littledove