Many people are aware of the stereotypes that popular culture has attributed to “dreads” and locs, but few are aware of the true origins of the style or of what the style actually means to the people who wear it for cultural or religious reasons. In this chapter I’m going to explore the history and cultural meaning behind the various different types and styles of locs, and touch on what some might consider a sensitive topic, cultural appropriation, and how it’s given locs, commonly referred to as “dreads”, a bad name.
Whenever someone asks me about the history of locs, or as many still call them, “dreadlocks” they’re almost always interested in finding out who started rocking the style first. When black people ask me this, they’re usually trying to assert cultural ownership over the style, and when white people ask me this, they’re typically trying to obtain some sort of external evidence that it’s okay for them to rock “dreads” - the thought process being that if black people don’t own “dreads” then black people technically can’t object to white people rocking them (more on that later).
Interestingly, it’s not exactly straight forward to find information on the origin of locs. If you do a quick google search you’ll find various articles from various sources, but few of those sources can be considered academic authorities on the history of “dreadlocks”, and even fewer still quote any references at all, likely because it’s very difficult to find freely available academic resources to read, either in print or online, which is just one example of why I am such a strong advocate for open access to academic knowledge and primary sources, (but I digress). Fortunately, despite my difficulty finding authoritative information online, I was lucky enough to come across several useful and authoritative books in my research.
One such book, entitled The Encyclopedia of Hair, A Cultural History3, was especially useful. From that book I managed to obtain the following information:
Dreadlocks Hairstyle
Dreadlocks, sometimes simply called dreads, locks or dreadlocks - are entangled hairs that form only if they are left alone to grow naturally without the use of brushes, combs, razors or scissors. A distinction is made between what are also sometimes called locs (short for locks) and dreads. Locs are characterized by their more cultivated look, with defined roots and even partings. Dreads are more natural in appearance, tend to vary in size, and present as a unified mass that gradually separates into individual strands.
Read also: African American Dreadlocks: A Cultural Icon
Ancient Roots of Locs
According to The Encyclopedia of Hair, A Cultural History, the oldest historical record of an African tribe rocking locs can be credited to the priests of the Ethiopian Coptic religion, who were wearing the style as early as 500 BCE. Heading on over to India, the earliest historical reference of locs comes from 1800 BCE (and the credit goes to the Hindu holy men called the sadhus). There is also evidence of Ancient Egyptians rocking locs as well as various African tribes, such as the Maasai of Kenya (who have been rocking locs for only God knows how long).
Archaeological evidence of wig hair extensions resembling locs has been found with the mummified remains of ancient Egyptians dating back as early as 3400 bce. The locs or braids of the extensions were attached directly to the natural hair or used to create a wig by fastening them to a mesh base, often made from narrow woven or braided hair.
In Greece early depictions of dreadlocks from the Minoan civilization have been found in a fresco on the island of Thera, dating to about 1700 bce, which depicts two boxers with long braided or matted hair styles.
The earliest textual evidence for a hairstyle close to dreadlocks appears in the history of Hinduism. In the Rigveda (c. 1500 bce) the storm god Rudra is described as having long braided hair piled on his head. Rudra evolved into the now popularly worshiped god Shiva, in whose matted locks can be found the crescent moon, and which catch the mighty celestial Ganges River as it falls from heaven to become the earthly Ganges.
Shiva’s hair is described as jata, Sanskrit for twisted locks of hair, and images portray it as sweeping below his shoulders or tied up into a jatamukuta (a tall crown of matted hair). Many Hindu holy men and women, or sadhus and sadhvis, wear matted locks like Shiva’s. In Tibetan Buddhism noncelibate monks called ngakpas wear a hairstyle similar to dreadlocks.
Read also: Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority
Thus dreadlocks historically are not merely a style but part of various religious and cultural milieus with meanings that braided into the contexts in which they occur.
Dreadlocks in Africa
While the hairstyle has historically been found in cultures around the globe, in recent popular culture it is most-closely tied to Africa, where it has a lengthy history. In Africa many different tribes sport particular hairstyles, including various kinds of braids, cornrows, and locks. The texture of African hair is uniquely suited to this hairstyle, although it can be formed on all hair with effort or by allowing it to mat.
Shamans and warriors in different African communities, including, for example the Akan, Fulani, Kikuyu, Maasai, and Wolof tribes, have worn different varieties of locks. For example, the Maasai people who inhibited Kenya and northern Tanzania wore locks which were often colored with red dyes to differentiate them from other tribes.
In Nigeria, among the Yoruba and Igbo, children born with matted dreadlocklike hair are called dada and are deemed to have spiritual abilities tied to their hair. The Yoruba word Dada is given to children in Nigeria born with dreadlocks. Some Yoruba people believe children born with dreadlocks have innate spiritual powers, and cutting their hair might cause serious illness.
In Ghana, among the Ashanti people, Okomfo priests are identified by their dreadlocks. They are not allowed to cut their hair and must allow it to mat and lock naturally. Locs are symbols of higher power reserved for priests.
Read also: Amazing Facts About Africa
African hairstyles
Sadly, it’s difficult to pin down an official date for the origin of locs in Africa. Thanks to colonialism and other acts of violence, much of the history of non-white ethnicities and cultures has been completely lost. We’re told that the majority of African history was passed down through oral tradition, meaning that much of it was eroded and thus lost as European “scientists” began to gather “evidence” for the pseudoscientific ideology related to the ancient Greek belief in the “Great Chain of Being”4, that eventually resulted in white supremacy, the slave trade, and the widely accepted view that Africans and other black and brown skinned people are part of a “sub-human” class and thus not worth respecting or acknowledging.
Egypt has a rich history of dreadlocks dating back to as far as 3100 BC. Ancient Egyptian sculptures, statues, and other archeological discoveries in the region over the years have provided evidence of dreadlocks’ historical roots in ancient Egypt. Examples of this are statues of Hyksos that have been unearthed at Tanis, which is situated in the north-eastern Nile Delta of Egypt. Mummies excavated from Egyptian tombs by archaeologists can also be seen wearing hairstyles that resembled dreadlocks. Dreadlocks are also believed to have been the hairstyle of choice for Egyptian Pharaohs. Many historians believed that locs were used to represent a level of esteem and power.
Hamar women in Ethiopia wear red-colored locs made using red earth clay. In Angola, Mwila women create thick dreadlocks covered in herbs, crushed tree bark, dried cow dung, butter, and oil. The thick dreadlocks are dyed using oncula, an ochre of red crushed rock. In Southern, Eastern, and Northern Africa, Africans use red ochre as sunscreen and cover their dreadlocks and braids with ochre to hold their hair in styles and as a hair moisturizer by mixing it with fats.
Historians note that West and Central African people braid their hair to signify age, gender, rank, role in society, and ethnic affiliation.
The Rastafarian Influence
Символизм дредов в культуре растафари
The term dreadlock also has a strong connection to the religion of Rastafari. The origin of the word dreadlock is murky, though there are three prevailing theories, two of which are tied to the Rastafari movement that began in Jamaica in the 1930s. Some believe that Rastas grew their hair to represent their faith and “dread” of God, thus the style became known as dreadlocks.
Some observers conjecture that Hindu sadhus had an influence upon these new Rastafari holy men, who similarly consumed cannabis (also called ganja, a word of Hindi origin that they might have encountered through Indian laborers in colonial Jamaica). Others suggest that the term and style was Rastas’ way of rebelling against conformity, thus they were referred to as “dreaded people” by the Euro-centric Jamaican society that found them frightening. Alternatively, some commentators contend that the Rastas wore their hair in a supposedly “dreadful” way in order to frighten the oppressive Europeans.
As such, the real question here is where did the modern interest in locs manifest? To answer that question we have to take a look at the history of Jamaica. Locs or “dreadlocks” became popular there somewhere around the 1930s to 1950s. From The Smithsonian “Perhaps the most familiar feature of Rastafari culture is the growing and wearing of dreadlocks, uncombed and uncut hair which is allowed to knot and mat into distinctive locks. Rastafari regard the locks as both a sign of their African identity and a religious vow of their separation from the wider society they regard as Babylon”5
Dreadlocks first became widespread in the modern Western world based on the popularization of reggae music, specifically the music of Jamaican-born artist Bob Marley, in the 1970s. The popularity of reggae combined with Marley’s countercultural message against the iniquities of the transatlantic slave trade and expressing the desire for freedom made the style into a symbol of rebellion against European domination and racism.
As Marley sang in the song “Rastaman Live Up” (1983):
Keep your culture
Don’t be afraid of the vulture!
Grow your dreadlock
Don’t be afraid of the wolf-pack
Marley felt that his dreadlocks were closely tied to his identity. In his song “Natty Dread” (1974) he sings of a dreadlocks wearer (the eponymous “Natty Dread”) in “Babylon,” which, in Rastafari beliefs, refers to a state of exile of Africans subjected to the slave trade:
Natty Dread, Natty Dread, now (Natty Dread)
A dreadlock Congo Bongo I (Natty Dread)
Natty Dreadlock in a Babylon (Natty Dread)
Roots Natty, Natty Roots Natty (Natty Dread)
Bob Marley with his signature dreadlocks
Modern Popularity and Cultural Appropriation
In the 1980s dreadlocks were not only associated with Marley and reggae, but also, in the mainstream media, with gang violence in Jamaica and in the United States. However, dreadlocks slowly grew in popularity as many prominent Black cultural figures began wearing them, including celebrated writers Alice Walker and Toni Morrison, the visual artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, and National Football League (NFL) stars.
A particularly visible figure who shifted the style into the mainstream was popular actor Whoopi Goldberg. While their modern roots may have been in reggae, dreadlocks and locs became a hairstyle that, along with the afro, symbolized a broader Black cultural identity.
Dreadlocks have since become commonly worn by musicians, actors, and athletes, as well as people outside the public eye, and while many form and grow their own, some use extensions to achieve the style.
Given the history of the hairstyle’s widespread origins, dreadlocks cannot be said to belong to one specific culture. However, given the close association of the hairstyle with Black culture and history in the United States, some advocates believe that when white Americans wear dreadlocks, it is a form of cultural appropriation-defined as when members of a majority group adopt cultural elements of a minority group in a way that is exploitative, disrespectful, or stereotypical.
White people who style their hair in dreadlocks or other Black hairstyles are thus often criticized for cultural appropriation, as in the notable cases of pop stars Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus and actor and model Bo Derek. In addition, some have criticized white wearers of dreadlocks, arguing that it illustrates white privilege, because white dreadlocks wearers do not face the same discrimination as Black people who adopt the hairstyle.
Discrimination and the CROWN Act
Because dreadlocks have been regarded by some, particularly those animated by anti-Black racism, as dirty, unkempt, or unprofessional, people who wear them have faced discrimination in the workplace and at schools. According to the Legal Defense Fund, policies have been used to “justify the removal of Black children from classrooms, and Black adults from their employment” in the United States.
In 2019 the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Coalition was founded to end race-based hair discrimination in the United States. The CROWN Act was created later that year by the coalition and cosmetics company Dove, in partnership with California state Sen. Holly J. Mitchell. Since then, 24 states and 40 localities have passed the act, which prohibits discrimination based on an individual’s texture or style of hair.
At the federal level, the CROWN Act passed in the House of Representatives in March 2022 but was blocked by the Senate in December 2022.
Famous Dreadlocks Wearers
In addition to Bob Marley, musicians including Snoop Dogg, Lenny Kravitz, Ani DiFranco, Erykah Badu, Stevie Wonder, and Zack de la Rocha (from Rage Against the Machine) have rocked the style. Actors with dreadlocks have included Zendaya, Lisa Bonet, and Jason Momoa. Athletes including NFL players Al Harris (often credited with starting the trend), Richard Sherman, Ricky Williams, and Chris Ivory, and National Basketball Association player Jamel (“Ja”) Morant have sported the style.
The Guinness Book of World Records credited Trinidad native Asha Mandela with the longest dreadlocks in 2009, her locks measuring 5.96 meters (19.5 feet). As of August 2022 her dreadlocks were 33.5 meters (110 feet), and they weighed 19 kilograms (42 pounds).
Popular articles:
tags: #Africa
