new thread
... just thought I'ld share this photo of myself dressed in moccassins, leggings, and breechclout. Some here are aware of my interest in primitive and Native American clothing - and those who aren't, I hope the photo is not offensive.
(I do have some Native American ancestry - my great, great, grandmother on my mother's side was Native American.)
I look more Indian from behind than I do from the front - and it's easy to guess what side I wanted to be on when playing cowboys and indians when I was a kid.
Karsten
Karsten
What an extremely cool, artistic photo Karsten! You certainly have a knack for taking great photos that showcase not just your great hair but backgrounds too.
Thanks Jason -and might I say the same in regards to your photos and your artistic ability.
Karsten
I love Native Americam crafted artifacts. I have a prayer wheel and a medicine wheel, both were handcrafted by Iroquois Mohawks in Canada. On my fathers side, I am part Iroquois Mohawk. One of my ancestors, a Green Mountain Boy of VT, who served during the Revolutionary War, married a fool-blooded Mohawk Princess. My uncle actually has a very old daguerreotype of her in advanced years. My eye color is known as Native American Blue, it is a shade of blue exclusive to NA's. Europeans don't have this color. Other than my eyes, I don't look anything like a NA. Look too much like the maternal side, German and Eastern European. Paternal side is French Canadian, NA and Irish (where I get my strawberry blonde highlights from.
Are you using real suede for that? Or one of those new realistic synthetics? Hmmmm... a little beadwork, beads in the hair, feathers... Do you know what your NA backround is? I love the look of NA men with flowing raven or sienna hair, or long braids.
Carol
The leggings, moccassins and breechclout are all made of leather. My NA background is also Mohawk -and my eyes are also blue.
Karsten
your 1/16 indian that makes you about 6% but still counts!
and awesome picture as well!
Thanks for the info -and the compliment!
Karsten
1) It isnt "Native American Clothing" because Native Americans (American Indians or Indigineous peoples) wear modern clothing just like everyone else. The historic clothing that you might be referring to, varies from tribe to tribe so there is no Native american clothing. At a powwow..this cultural attire is referred to as "regalia" and not a "costume"
2) Blood Quantum is only relevant with tribal enrollment and that is determined by each of the 532's tribal nations' membership/citizenship standards which can vary from 1/2 to 1/16 (with direct documented lineage) in the case of Oklahoma Cherokee which was only changed to the lower level in the past few years.
3) There is no such thing as a "Native American Blue" eye color. Dark eyes are the dominant genetic phenotypes like in most other non-caucasian cultures. The only time blue eyes are present in the family is when there is a recessive trait passed down that resulted from either a coupling of a european relative or a mutation in the eye proteins which leave the eye with a default color of light blue. Mohawks are typically fairer do to the large influx of french, dutch, and nordic people that came before and after spanish/english colonization.
Im european, jamaican and native. My dad is Lumbee (State recognized (federal recognition pending) tribe from NC) My grandparents are Lakota and chickasaw on my mother's side.
Hi Monroe,
Within a thread I started quite a while ago, I mentioned having been told that most Native American tribesmen will cut their long hair if they have just experienced major loss of a loved one (death of a parent, sibling, or spouse, --- or death of some other significant person in their life). I first heard of this tradition/ritual from a man I met on-line living in Montana who claimed to be Native American (I forgot what tribe he said he belonged to, though). He said the cutting of one's long hair is viewed as a part of the grieving process, --- as well as the return of seeing one's hair grow back to long again can be viewed as looking back at one's personal history, including the healing of the grieving period that had occurred earlier. I probably am not articulating this too accurately; but hopefully you'll understand the essence of what I'm remembering... So, my question is: how "universal" is this practice of cutting one's hair at the beginning of a grieving period within North American Indegenous tribes, --- or, is it only done within certain specific tribes (that you know of)?
Thanks in advance for your answer, --- and also thanks for your comments re. your Cultural Note reply to Karsten.
- Ken in San Francisco
That tradition is most prevalent in the Lakota Culture, but it is also kind of wide spread in most of the northern plains tribes (Dakota, Nakota, Cree, Objibwe, Cheyenne) Etc. Most tribes even the Navajo in the south grieve for a week or so and they are done. THe cutting of the hair is kind of symbolic of letting go.
Personally, Im growing my hair out and I havent cut it yet, going on 6 months. I have curly hair, so humidity is a bitch. I probably wont cut it until my parents die. Although Im 23, My parents are up there (70 and 54). Most of my friends have short hair. A lot of natives grow it out becoz of rock n roll, they are born again traditionalists, or they are on the powwow circuit usually. When I was in Arizona, I saw a lot of the 30+ native and mexican men wore hair long but the young guys wore hair shaved or very short.
IVe read a lot and Ive interviewed people from the larger reservations plus I know people on the powwow circuit. I plan on going back to school for american indian studies since I graduated with a business degree (shocker).
How much do they cut? I recall seeing in a movie that a man grieving cut his hair from "lower back" to "falling on shoulders" length. He did not cut it so short that he ceased to be what is thought of as a longhair.
What has been your experience with the guys you have known or known of?
Bill
For Lakota, I know a lot of people still practice the funeral ceremony were relatives put items of the deceased and locks of the relatives' hair in the coffin before the burial. Especially if the person was a veteran or former military officer. It depends on the length they might not be considered a "long hair" after. The women usually cut it at shoulder length . The guys vary more.
Thanks for the further information, and for sticking around this place to answer our questions.
Bill
Maybe the man will reappear and prove me wrong, but....
The "other posts" link leads me to believe we may have a "one post wonder" here - they come in and espouse their often-controversial opinion on something but aren't man enough to stick around to deal with the inevitable questions or backlash.
To my eye, an undefended position ain't worth much....
Bill
... I should have referred to the clothing as historical.
Karsten
I apologize if I left anyone confused. Native Americans who are full-blooded do not have blue eyes. The eyes color shows up in people who have NA lineage in their family history. It is a shade of blue not known among Europeans. It is called 'NA blue' because it is an eye shade peculiar to NA's that have mixed Nordic, Celtic, essentially Northern European genes, into their gene pool.
I used to think my eye color was quite odd. It was a part-Cherokee woman I met on a board for doll collecting, that first mentioned the color. She has it herself, and it was Cherokee's on a reservation that told her this. I'd never heard of it before her, but have had people question about my unusual eye color, which looks nothing like typical blue eyes. Typically, people have baby blue (Think Linda Carter, Wonder Woman), Sky Blue (Singer Guitarist Beck), a royal-lapis blue (Actress Kellie Martin of "Life Goes On" and "Christy" fame), and various shades between as well.
NA Blue irises are rimmed in dark gray with striations of blue-grey and amber flecks closer to the pupils. Not at all like Europeans, and not hazel. My father had hazel eyes, which shifted from gray-green to anmber-light brown, depending on the light source. Most likely the color began to show up in successive offspring of NA's following the arrival of the Vikings in the 11th century. Some NA lore features a goddess of some sort with blonde hair and blue eyes. No question the Nordic people came and mingled with NA people here, long before Columbus supposedly 'discovered' America.
NA's are typically dark-eyed; brown, black and shades in between are the norm for a full-blooded indigenous person. But at some point in history, blue eyes showed up in the gene pool. Why the color of blue is different that Europeans, I have no idea. The lady on the doll board met a number of Cherokees with this color. Cherokees and Mohawks were from coastal states, so Lief Erickson and his Viking crews most likely encountered them on the other side of the Atlantic. Genetics is a science we are still learning things about.
So, anywhoo, I'm sticking to the story, as relayed to me. I have two blue-eyed siblings, and both have classic baby-blue European eyes. Oh, yeah, I have the so-called 'shovel teeth' too! Family tree on my father's side is quite extensive, not much is known about my mother's. I have no idea exactly what percentage Mohawk I am, and I have discalculia, and can't figure equations worth a darn. Don't know if Mohawks would accept me as one of them or not, but that connection to the Green Mountain boys (I had two ancestors there during the Revolutionary War), makes me eligible for the Daughters of the American Revolution.
And with that, I will kindly shut up now, since this is getting way off-topic of this board devoted to long-haired men, and support for them in a society that still tends to frown upon the very notion.
Just Carol (who thinks for herself, and usually outside the box) :-D
i have to say i found this fascinating. my father's side of the family is swedish, and my dad looks every bit of it. but we know very little about my mom's side. there are rumors that somewhere along the line, some native was mixed in, but no one can prove it. after reading this eye color description, i believe it. me and all four of my siblings have blue eyes with the grey rim, grey streaks, and yellow spots on the inner portion. (my mom has dirt brown eyes) this has made me more determined than ever to find out more of my geneology. thank you for the history lesson!
peace,
nic
(another mlhh sister)
Check to see if you have 'shovel teeth'. Google it for a description, and/or ask your dentist. If you have the shovelo teeth as well, you probably do have some NA genes mixed in somewhere. I have a distant relative doing my father's family genealogy, I didn't know I was part Irish until this genealogy was done. That's interesting that you and your siblings have the odd blue eye color. I'm the lone kid in my family. It's fascinating to know what your family heritage is. And I would never have known about this eye color at all, if not for the part Cherokee lady on a doll board. The internet has a strange way of imparting information that you never thought of. Good luck on your family history search.
Carol
Thanks for the reply. I never heard about the "shovel teeth" before but after research, I guess thats why I have pointed fangs for incisors. Oh well.
Whether Mohawk people will accept you or not? That varies from person to person. It depends on if you are enrolled or not. Also, if you don;t look native, odds are they won't talk to you. For example, I have a friend who is an enrolled Oneida from Wisconsin, who looks white isnt really accepted until they find out who his family is and that he is an enrolled member.
To BIll, My old name was Alex28417, my real name is Monroe. I have been on this site off and on for 2 years. I just havent grown my hair out that long as of yet. So I dont really have many updates to post.
Hey, real names are better. I've always used mine because I don't want to be bothered remembering who I've told what to. [grin]
When we get posts of a political bent from people who haven't become known first, it does come off a bit like spam. We get quite a bit of that stuff - an example is the recent post about whether God likes longhairs - and it mostly makes the regulars just yawn. Political statements are pointless if one doesn't know something about the source from which they have come.
Your changing to a new name set off my troll alarm. Now you can see why.
I just looked in the archive at your pic posted May 5 when you mentioned thinness. Are you continuing to let your hair grow out?
Bill
Sorry, I can be politically controversial at times. :-/ Anywayz yea I am. My hair is curly but fine texture and thin in terms of hair surface area. Looking back at pictures and my parents its always been like that which is kind of good since Im not getting the helmet effect as much and it doesnt puff out when it get frizzy. On the other hand, when I straighten it (which was what I was doing) it looks very thin. So it was a combination of straightening my hair, a lot of stress, and based on the thinking that I was going bald, I was taking rogaine. SO a lot of hair was falling out. Eventually, I just let go, changed my diet, and let it go and its pretty much normal for me I guess. I never had a receding hairline it just goes in in the front which is i guess again normal.. Thanx for asking. ttyl
Sounds like you've learned what I learned and a lot of other guys on here have - that a guy is best off to just celebrate the hair he has. Anytime a guy says, "I want Kurt Cobain's hair," or something similar, the guy is asking for trouble. One can never look as good with someone else's hair than with just one's own. And uncurled, unstraightened, unbleached, undyed, at that.
Keep it growin'!
Bill
Wow, this looks so cool--makes me wish it was the 1800's or something. =)
hahaha, very cool!
and what a nice view! is that your yard?