Posted by native carolinian (other posts) on August 13, 2019 at 09:27:46 Previous Next
In Reply to: Head wrap posted by BlueBeard on August 12, 2019 at 09:22:19:
What Native men have done since before 1492, is to use a head-band for hair of this length. Most Northern Iroquois had long hair but in times of mourning would cut it off except for a crest of hair in the center of the head and then waxed it up with bear grease or some other grease. If you use coconut oil in its solid form, you will probably get the same effect.
Instead of putting a bandanna over top of your head, if you roll it up and wear it Native style then it will have the same effect of holding the hair in place minus grease.
Here are the basic steps:
1. Fold the bandanna into a triangle diagonally.
2. Starting with the broad tip in the middle of the short sides of the now triangular bandanna, fold the tip in towards the middle until the blunt triangle creates a straight line between the two short sides of the triangle.
3. Keep folding from the place where the bandanna is now folded, by folding in even spacing with as rectangular a fold as possible.
4. Repeat Step 3, until you have the width that you want for the bandanna.
5. Tie the tips of the now folded bandanna at the back of your head.
6. Adjust bandanna to desired location on head.
The only color the homosexuals do not use to signal each other in the United States is flourescant green. So, be careful picking out bandanna colors so as not to send the wrong signal. If your boss says something to you about it, just ask what color is preferred in the office setting.
This way of wearing the bandanna as a man is how it was taught to me. Alternatively, you could get a leather headband from a Native American person who is enrolled in a Tribe recognized by the National Congress of American Indians. This way, you have a cultural piece that shows respect to Native Americans and is useful to your needs. Avoid Amazon and E-bay, pretendians use these sites to sell fake Native American goods made in China and culturally disrespectful.
I come from Eastern and Southern Cultures, so I am a bit biased, but the way my ancestors had their hair and the way they kept it in place is pretty low key. So, I suggest getting Delaware, Cherokee, Muscogee Creek, Iroquois Confederacy, and Catawba head bands. They are low key, beautiful yet simple, and practical in scope. If you can get the biography of the craftsman or craftswoman who made the headband, it adds to the story of the headband and increases the value of the headband at re-sale, or for insurance or estate purposes.
The price usually depends on the quantity of beading and detail of the leather work. Do not expect feathers or some such, as they are culturally significant and unless you are enrolled or accepted by enrolled communities as one of their ethnic people who are not enrolled (this is done in the traditional Indian way), it can be disrespectful to wear one.
What is not disrespectful is getting to know the culture from which the headband comes, the biography of the craftsman/craftswoman of the headband, and the significance of any beadwork or leatherwork patterns. Please be careful to research any religious meaning behind the forms on the headband, as you do not want to mis-signal with your clothing and hair who you are.
Hair is used extensively today by many Native Americans/American Indians and Alaska Natives to signal to our peoples and communities our personal beliefs and ways. For example, I have to be careful a little bit because I am un-enrolled Muscogee and Cherokee language speaker as first languages. So, when I am recognized by an enrolled Native American as being American Indian, they will then assess me based on my appearance. In Muscogee Creek and Cherokee cultures, long hair is associated with traditional religion, especially the rat tail. I will never have a rat tail because I am not traditional religion.
I can have the long hair and wear it Lėnape (Lėnape is also one of my first languages- both dialects) traditional non-warrior style with it pulled back at the base of the skull or slightly higher and a single braid down the back. There are basically no remaining traditional religion Lėnape, so it is safe to have that hair way for me. I would still have to explain myself to the Muscogee Creek a bit, but in a straight braid they would probably let it go since traditional religion Muscogee Creek tend to have a full head of hair and a loose unbraided tied back hair style usually at the base of the skull or slightly higher in men.
If I got permission from an enrolled Delaware Native American to purchase and wear a traditional headband, I would. I am usually recognized on site as a Muscogee, and accepted after I start talking my Seminole dialect and state my clan. In my experience the Seminole Nation and the Muscogee Creek Nation people tend to be a little more open than the enrolled Delaware Native Americans about wearing their styles. So, it might be beneficial to go with a traditional Muscogee or Seminole mans style of hair band. It is unlikely that there would be many hairbands for purchase from the Cherokee (be it the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, United Kituwa Band, or the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma). This is because Cherokee are constantly having to be on the watch for fake Cherokee and the appropriate of Cherokee culture, and the enrolled Delaware are in the same situation (The Boy Scouts of America did no favors with The Order of the Arrow to the Delaware and Lėnape).
Thank you for reading my post. I hope it was informative and useful in your search for appropriate hair supplies.
Be well.