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Why Native Americans Didn't Cut Their Hair

escargot

escargot

Disciple of Marduk
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The Truth About Hair and Why Indians Would Keep Their Hair Long

Long story short - expert Native American trackers recruited during the Vietnam war to help locate the enemy in the jungle failed miserably once they had their hair cut.

Hair is an extension of the nervous system, it can be correctly seen as exteriorized nerves, a type of highly evolved ‘feelers’ or ‘antennae’ that transmit vast amounts of important information to the brain stem, the limbic system, and the neocortex.
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(They might also have been unfamiliar with the South Asian terrain and vegetation, not to mention tigers, but nobody seems to have thought of that.)
 
But a lot of tribes do traditionally cut their hair, or shave off part of it.

I think cutting hair short requires more explanation than letting it grow long.
 
PeniG said:
But a lot of tribes do traditionally cut their hair, or shave off part of it.
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Mohicans...
 
escargot1 said:
The Truth About Hair and Why Indians Would Keep Their Hair Long

Long story short - expert Native American trackers recruited during the Vietnam war to help locate the enemy in the jungle failed miserably once they had their hair cut.

Hair is an extension of the nervous system, it can be correctly seen as exteriorized nerves, a type of highly evolved ‘feelers’ or ‘antennae’ that transmit vast amounts of important information to the brain stem, the limbic system, and the neocortex.
Click to expand...

(They might also have been unfamiliar with the South Asian terrain and vegetation, not to mention tigers, but nobody seems to have thought of that.)
Click to expand...

Hmmmmmm. I have long hair, and my sense of direction is awful. Truly awful. I've managed to get lost when all I had to essentially do was walk in a straight line.
 
People with no hair or shaved heads do tend to bang their head more often as they lack the early warning system that a healthy barnet gives them. I can tell you that from personal experience as I now generally tend to look like I've tried to shave my head with a grenade.

To be honest though, if you need long hair to tell you you're stood next to an angry buffalo then it's probably a bit late to do anything about it.
 
So Danny the drug dealer from Withnail & I was right!

"I don't advise a haircut, man. All hairdressers are in the employment of the government. Hair are your aerials. They pick up signals from the cosmos and transmit them directly into the brain. This may be the reason bald-headed men are uptight."
 
I dunno, I have long flowing locks and I'm constantly seeing spiders/spooky figures in the corner of my eye, which then turn out to be a loose hair on the edge of my vision. I'd imagine long hair would be more of a distraction when tracking. Or maybe it just helps you see beyond the veil :shock:
 
I remember I was sitting in my creative writing class in high school, taking a test, and all of a sudden this big, furry thing perched on my shoulder!

I leapt out of my desk and spun around to the amazement of the class and...and...my ponytail fell off my shoulder and all was right with the world once again. :oops:
 
In my Dads age as a young'n (1920's) in Seaton Delaval, He recounted to me that the hairdresser would 'seal' the newly cut hair by singeing it with a red hot metal 'thingie' They believed at the time that unsealed hair would drain the vitality of recipient of the haircut.
 
The habit of singeing hair was alive and well in 1960s UK. I remember it vividly. Presumably, it was done by request of the older customers, as there was no attempt to try it on me! You got to see quite a lot of things when waiting for the barber in those days; singeing was an awful waste of reading time! :rolleyes:

There was no special thingie, though. The barber just struck a match, lifted the hair on his metal comb and let things shrivel.
 
The sixties you say...Those Geordies were a bit avant-garde then.
 
I hate having my hair cut, it's currently half way down my back. Since I was little I've allways had a thing for long hair, my god mother had beautiful long blonde locks and I loved to sit and run my fingers through it. The day she came and had cut it into a bob I cried and cried ( still remember after 36 years) the feeling of horror made me sick to the stomach.
My husband has long hair as do my sons, I don't know why but hair is just so terribly important to me on a deep level.
 
Most cultures have some tradition regarding hair. Many Hindu yogis will dread it and never cut it because they believe it stores their hard earned powers. One common story tell of a yogi in India who was put in prison. He shrank himself smaller than the bars and escaped. They caught him later and he escaped the same way. They caught him a third time and cut his hair and he couldn't escape. The Sikhs also belief their hair gives them the power of a lion. They grow it forever and wrap it in a turban. The Sikhs have been and still are some of the bravest and fiercest warriors in the world for almost 3 hundred years. The Rastafarians also believe that long dreaded hair gives them the power of the conquering lion of Judah. One rasta man I talked to said his hair enhances his senses of touch and hearing dramatically. Celtic Druids would use their hair to influence the weather by either braiding or combing it. Many sects of Buddhism, the us military and other groups shave the head to remove vanity or individual identity. I really do feel exposed when I shave my hair. Hair keeps the head warm when it's cold out, protects it from the sun, absorbs sweat and keeps the head cool when it's hot. I met a couple of these Native American trackers, both psychopaths and similar in many ways... Grim reaper tattoos, half Scottish, marine corp, openly talking of killing children. The one guy pissed off the wrong people and they publicly shaved his head and eyebrows. rHair contains a chemical record of many things you've ingested while your hair is being produced. There are drug tests that can find traces of drugs and metabolites in hair years after consumption.
 
I'm growing my hair again, after having it severely short for years.
It's coming up to ten years since my family suffered a terrible bereavement. My hair seems to have been chopped ever since then. I feel that allowing it to grow is somehow connected with this upcoming anniversary.

On the other hand, my son (our CERN Snailet) grew his hair after the death and didn't cut it until he felt he was in a better place with it all. He was doing the physics PhD in London and California and eventually did his viva with his auburn hair growing almost to his waist.

So this last winter, for the first time in years my hair has been longer than his. :D

Dunno how it all fits in but hair, eh.
 
For a few years, I grew my hair really long - right down to my bum, in fact.
It became a chore to look after, with it being very fine, and I was starting to go thin on top.
So...I finally got it cut short and it's been short ever since. Most of the hair lost has grown back.
I didn't notice any enhanced magical powers or greater strength while the hair was long.
 
Mythopoeika said:
For a few years, I grew my hair really long - right down to my bum, in fact.
It became a chore to look after, with it being very fine, and I was starting to go thin on top.
So...I finally got it cut short and it's been short ever since. Most of the hair lost has grown back.
I didn't notice any enhanced magical powers or greater strength while the hair was long.
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Pretty much the same story here ...

I wore my hair quite long back in my 20's (1970's), with the longest length sort of auto-stabilizing at an inch or two below breast level. It seemingly wouldn't grow (or stay attached) any longer than that. When it was the longest, I got in the habit of using little-girl-style barrettes to hold it back from my face - both because I never liked using head bands or ponytails and because I liked the way it startled people.

While out on the road as a rock musician in 1975 I suddenly got it cut short and shifted my look from (e.g.) Doobie Brother to something more akin to Elton John.

Since then I've alternated between longer and shorter depending on mood, job requirements / expectations, and the amount of trouble the longer locks are causing at the time.

I don't think I've let my hair get longer than shoulder-length in about a decade now. Like Mytho' mentioned, the drudgery of long hair care was admittedly a major factor.

A couple of years ago I went even further and reverted to the crew cut style of my childhood. No one who's known me since childhood has seen my hair this short since Kennedy was president. I simply tell the stylist, "Number 6 cutter - mow it all off", and I'm outta there in only a few minutes. At my advanced age, I value ease of maintenance (and minimal time spent at the hair-garage) over making a fashion statement.

I suspect I might let it grow long again at some point, but now that I'm balding I'd have to reconcile myself to the notion of sporting the Ben Franklin look.

If anything, I'd have to claim my sensory / perceptual abilities were consistently _worse_ with the longer hair.
 
I'm glad someone resurrected this thread. I'd missed it before. I've always had my hair long and feel deprived now its not strong enough to grow beyond shoulder length.
 
UlaLongHair1.jpg UlaShortHair2.JPG
A couple of years ago, I cut my hair, due to the expectation a woman should cut her hair once she'd passed a certain age. (warning - before anyone clicks those photos - bad dye job ahead :p)

So I went from photo 1* to photo 2 and not one single soul noticed. Not even my husband. Wait - I take that back - a lady who worked at a convenience store I frequented noticed a couple of weeks later. So one person noticed. Anyway, since it clearly made no difference to anyone else, but it made a difference to me, I just grew it back, social expectations be damned. Now I'm determined to be one of those old ladies with long witchy white hair who frightens the neighborhood children.

Also, my best friend was Native American and he had gorgeous, waist-length blue black hair. People would come up to him on the street and and want to touch it. I don't recall that he ascribed any power or tradition to growing it though - I think it was just vanity. :D

*Erm, photo 1 may go some ways toward explaining why strangers would approach me on the street and ask me to do a spell for them or remove the ghost haunting their house. :oops:
 
Ulalume said:
People would come up to him on the street and and want to touch it.
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That reminds me of the time when I was in a pub in Cambridge, and my hair was still really long.
Amongst other people I met, there was a woman who was fascinated by my hair. She asked if she could feel it, so I grudgingly said yes. Anyway, she starting sniffing it loudly, like a dog would do!
She was a bit of a dominatrix, apparently - so had various fetishes. Long hair was apparently one of those fetishes.
I left the pub soon after that, because it was getting a bit too weird even for me. :)
 
Dreadlocks -

Read this on b3ta a while back:

Saw someone at a festival taking a dump by a hedge, he had long dreadlocks in a ponytail reaching the ground as he squatted, I managed to look just as he sharted all over them.
Someone else told him what he'd done and he just shrugged, wiped his dreads on some grass and sauntered off.
Fair turned my stomach.
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:D
 
Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
 
I'm enjoying cherishing my longer hair - I always buy it posh shampoos and conditioners but now I can go in for lovely clips and barrettes. All girly, y'know. :D

When I wear hats I suddenly have no spatial ability. Can't park the car for toffee or walk round a crowded market without bumping into people. The hairstyle makes no difference, it's just the hat, especially if it has a brim. Weird.

So when I'm trying to get into a parking space I'll whip off the hat and fling it onto the parcel shelf, and Bob's your uncle.
 
Mythopoeika said:
That reminds me of the time when I was in a pub in Cambridge, and my hair was still really long.
Amongst other people I met, there was a woman who was fascinated by my hair. She asked if she could feel it, so I grudgingly said yes. Anyway, she starting sniffing it loudly, like a dog would do!
She was a bit of a dominatrix, apparently - so had various fetishes. Long hair was apparently one of those fetishes.
I left the pub soon after that, because it was getting a bit too weird even for me. :)
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I also had ladies wanting to touch my hair back when it was really long . Cool, innit :)
 
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