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Hello all... I was bored this afternoon and spent a few hours over at the university library in the Native American section. One of the interesting tidbits I found was a very detailed section on hairstyles among the tribes of the Southeast. Interestingly enough, the stereotypical 'long hair, all one length' was not the norm down here. Several tribes shaved the sides of their hair and left the middle part somewhat longer. Others took the opposite approach, growing the sides long and cutting the middle short... one tribe was mentioned as knotting the longer hair on the sides up and using these curls or knots to hold their arrows. Some tribes grew their hair long, but shaved the right side- the reason being to keep their hair from being caught in the bowstring. Only a few of the Southeastern tribesmen wore all of their hair grown long, such as the Pensacola and Houma Indians. The book mentioned that one tribe in particular, the Choctaw, 'were so addicted to the practice of growing their hair long that they were known as Pasfalaya, meaning, long hairs.' Being of Choctaw descent myself, I found that an interesting coincidence... maybe it's genetic.
The book The Mystic Warriors of the Plains also contains an excellent section on Native American hair styles.