new thread
Jason's pics inspired me to write and share some of my thoughts on this topic...
Seeing a longhair looking out over a sweeping panorama of mountains, untouched by modern "civilization", reminds me of what I learned a long time ago from my 5th grade Science & History teacher: that we have the Native Americans (AKA American Indians) to thank for preserving what we have left of our unspoiled natural scenery on this continent. They were far better "Stewards of the Land" than my own immigrant European ancestors apparently were (an understatement), --- and they were also known for their BEAUTIFUL long hair!!!
My own roots on my mother's side can apparently be traced back to the Pilgrims leaving England for North America on the Mayflower; my father's ancestry is predominently Scotch-Irish, --- with a little French & German thrown in for good measure! But, none of that ever really mattered to me as a kid: I was totally fascinated by the Native American Indians, and far more admiring of their culture than my own (and even got wholloped by my dad once, when I kept hounding him if he was absolutely *sure* we weren't at least "PART- Indian")!
Seeing long hair and a pristine landscape just feels so... RIGHT!! (regardless of whatever land mass you happen to live on). But, whenever I see an inspiring example of the majestic North American wilderness these days, I think back to the era we can only read about now in our history books... when at one time, Longhairs used to literally RULE this land!
Am I generalizing too much, or do most longhairs instictively respect Mother Nature, the ecology of the land, etc., more than the average short-haired guy? I know we can't turn back the hands of time and the "progress'" the modern world has made in recent times (after all... we ARE talking to each other over that modern technology called, "The Internet")... But I still think that, on every continent, most longhairs somehow stand apart from their short-haired bretheren, --- not just physically (by having long hair); but eventually also internally (morally / spiritually, etc.).
I don't want this to be taken as an egotistical slant, --- I'm just saying that the PROCESS of growing one's hair out, along with the fact of taking people's grief for *keeping* one's hair long (AKA being "different") have an effect on us on the INside... where we transform into returning to being more like our original, natural selves, --- as a humble *part* of Mother Nature, rather than madmen trying to "conquer" Her!
... Am I nuts babbling on & on like this, --- or WHAT???
- Ken in San Francisco
(Who has lived too long in this city, and yearns to be surrounded by more greenery!)
Nonsense Ken, you are not babbling, I have often thought what it would have been like to be one of those native people, about 600 years ago, before America was spoiled first by Spain and then England. I wish I could have been one of them. I can see myself, tall and slender with knee length stick straight black hair, and living an idyllic life in a pristine environment, free of stress. I can picture living in harmony with the environment, in a land with abundant food and NO worries.
Technology can be a good thing, but it separates us, piece by piece, from being in harmony with nature. On a number of occasions, I have wanted to rewind the clock 600 years and live that idyllic life, and be closer to God and nature.
Absalom
Sometimes I do feel like im sick of the present times, cause its so stressful and people always act like money is god or something. However I wonder how I would fare if I lived 600 years ago, cause I really cant stand the summer heat...
High!
Abundant food... but what if the winter was too harsh and the hunters of your tribe had no luck? Up in North Dakota, it can be 70 below in the winter - would you like to endure such weather in a teepee? Or diseases... not all of them were brought in by the Europeans! I find it difficult to imagine that the average Native American's life expectancy at birth was significantly more than 30 years... but teach me better if you can!
See you in Khyberspace!
Yadgar
Now playing: Massa Massa (Zara-Thustra)
It does depend on where you live. The tribes of the west coastal region (Oregon and California) did not have to deal with frigid temperatures, and fish and wild game were available all year.
As for life expectancy, I will have to do some research.
Absalom
Hi Ken,
You're not nuts at all! Your post really resonated with me because I've felt similarly. I love movies that portray Native Americans in a positive light like Dances With Wolves.
Having wanted long hair since I was a small child, I used to love looking at the long hair on both Native men and women. I always admired the way they lived off the land for centuries without damaging it or the animals they used for food and clothing.
I love the bumper sticker that says 'Native Americans had bad immigration policies'! It's too bad the Europeans couldn't have learned to live at peace and maybe learn from the Natives without destroying a large part of their culture.
Long hair and Nature definitely go together and I think it's true that longhairs in general feel an affinity towards it.
I could not but agree with you more when it comes to this topic. And the way with words you had to express your thoughts............marvelous!
I saw another bumper sticker once:
"So you trust the government? Ask a Native American about that."
definately ive always loved native american culture and feel an affinity with it....it wasnt till recently i went...hey i can have that hair too! lol...we recently found out a relative of ours was native american...of course our generation is only the tiniest bit now unfortuneately.
another culture associatedwith longhair especially for me is the ancient europeans such as celts and vikings...theres actually a revival of the native european ways (similar to american indians) that where worshiped before christrianity yunno the thor and woden kinda stuff....its interesting stuff...i beleive its called Asatru...when you look at the celts especially it can be seen there are a lot of similarieties in the two cultures.
i definately plan on attempting to plait my hair either side and bind it as ive seen in some pictures of south/northern native americans as well as on some scandinavians.
Hi Muffinman,
I, too, find the ancient Kelts and Vikings fascinating. Just one thing bothers me about their ancient pre-Christian culture: in ancient times, one young man form each village had to be sacrificed to the gods. For that purpose, he was slain in three ways consecutively, and each way would have been sufficient to kill him.
When St. Patrick, a missionary from Britain (he was Keltic, too, he could perhaps be called Welsh in today's terms) came to Ireland, he told the Irish Kelts that this kind of human sacrifice was no longer necessary because Christ had taken that upon him once and for all. This argument was embraced, and human sacrifice was abolished, as we know.
Well, the Irish and the "Welsh" Kelts seem to have become better Christians than certain Inquisitors and Conquistadores in later times.
That was just my off topic remark.
Best wishes,
Hans-Uwe
Most modern day Indian men don't do long hair though. Seemingly a higher percentage than Anglo-Europeans, but it's certainly not universal. Probably a function of long term cultural assimilation with the dominant culture for better or worse.
From one madman to another . . . . .
To me it's pretty simple. The fact that we who choose to grow our hair out states that we typically are non-conformists (whatever the term may be: madman, different, weird, different drummer syndrome, etc). We are willing to listen to our inner self moreso than others, instead of meeting others expectations. Dig deep enough and everyone has naturalist tendencies; everything else is "learned" from life's experiences interacting with others, and tends to cover the true self.
Sad fact is, many never realize they have this in themselves. Some, such as many on this board, realized it early on and took action. For many of us, some event dictated we look and reevaluate our tiny position in this vast universe, and reestablish priorities of importance.
When you meet or run into someone else with longer hair, ever notice that there seems to be an instant "link", be it a nod, a smile, or some acknowledgement of each other. I believe that this much deeper than long hair; its an acknowledgement of independence, the "back to nature philosophy" you mention, and an awareness of a "kindred spirit" in life's travels.
And if my long winded rants or dissertations classify me as a madman also, as you humorously reference, please use a capital "M". I wear the label with honor.
Big George
Dear Urban Cowboy
The natives of the land you now call america came from africa as did all of our ancestors. They were hunter gatherers as were all of out ancestors. While Europe was savaged by wars between the romans and pagan tribes, most of these times written down by scholars of europe almost 2,000 years ago, the lands known as vineland to the vikings were left untouched.
The romans invaded and conquered most of europe and more and, as such happened in history, alliences were made by culture and confirmity. The romans (short hair) were known to despise the paga/heathens (long haired) of Europe. Those of the Keltoi, germanic and norse tribes were pushed further north into the ice as the romans took over then lands of what we may call the germanics, the goths and other such tribes of europe.
The silliest thing is that later in time the romans themsleves were named as pagans by the new christian movement who despised them as they had not one god but gods and goddesses.
What happened to the natives of the land you live in has happened before and, the thing is, it happened time after time, all over the world. People have an identity. Tribal custom is an identity.
I totally agree with you with the whole freedom, natural thing and I think natives of your land should never lose it, however thats up to them as individuals.
As it is up to all of us.
I have noticed that most Native Americans even today still wear their hair long. I can't help but admire them for it. I agree that it is a form of self expression, and a part of your individuality. Honestly I really wish that more people would do it, even if it wasn't just long hair. I wish that less people would follow the trends. i.e. be pale instead of tan, a little curvy instead of super skinny... things like that. My younger sister is like that. If it's a trend, she will NOT do it. She's a trend setter not a follower. It takes a certain type of person to do that. People with long hair have that quality in them, at least I think so. When they look at themselves, they style their look based on who they really are and what they really like, not what everyone else is doing. They are the ones that won't be jumping off the bridge when all of their friends are doing it ;) That kind of intelligence is so important and I think that that quality will be found in CEO's, Business Owners and Managers all while the trend of short hair fades away and some of the trends of the past come back, like curves for women and long hair for men. In fact, I think it's happening right as we speak; people are noticing that ideas from history may not be as naive as we may have thought.
~Natalie