One symbol of Africa’s rich cultural heritage is the traditional African hairstyles. In ancient African societies, the hairstyle was a significant element, a symbolic tool which was utilised to communicate different messages and meanings about peoples’ social status, heritage, culture, religion and many other aspects of African societies.
Hair is a significant part to each individual’s appearance, however Black hair goes beyond appearance and looks. Black hair has a uniquely meaningful history as a symbol of survival, resistance and celebration.
In ancient African civilizations, hair represented one’s family history, social class, spirituality, tribe and marital status. Varied tribal groups used hair to show social hierarchy as early as the fifteenth-century.
Today, many of those traditional African hairstyles have crossed the Atlantic into the western world. While some are almost extinct, many remain peculiar to their origins. Oftentimes, they even help to identify individuals belonging to certain ethnic groups.
Here we explore the historical background and present-day appeal of prominent traditional African hairstyles.
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The importance of studying African history is rooted in its ability to deepen our understanding of world history more broadly, and how it relates to current events in Africa. Furthermore, it provides students with the opportunity to develop an evaluative and analytical mind, acknowledge the variation of human practices and rationales, and comprehend how they impact on politics, economics, and society.
It is ironic how Black hairstyles have been stolen and culturally appropriated; we now see cornrows, braids and other hairstyles worn by caucasion celebrities.
Many may argue it is ‘just a hairstyle’ or make the ridiculous comparison of Black women wearing weaves and wigs. Black people use extensions, weaves and wigs as protective hairstyles. Non-Black people sport Black hairstyles because it is a current trend, they don’t understand the history or the significance of Black hair.
Black hair is beautiful, Black hair is elegant and Black hair is proud. Black hair is not easy to define as Black hair comes in different shapes, styles and sizes.
Black Hair Texture Types
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Type 3 and 4 are the usual hair texture types for Black people.
Black people who have Type 3 hair has S shaped bouncy curls that are well defined, dry and slightly rough. As Black hair is very complex, Type 3 and Type 4 hair have their own subtypes ; 3a, 3b and 3c.
- 3a curls are springy and have a definite S shape. This hair type can be straightened easily and is normally shiny and not too dry.
- 3b hair ranges from springy ringlets to tightly wounded and convoluted corkscrews. It has a lot of frizz that can be reduced by regular oiling using olive or coconut oil.
- Lastly, 3c hair is best described by wiry, coarse and frizzy corkscrews that are quite hard to untangle and sometimes difficult to straighten.
Type 4 hair is generally known as kinky hair which again can be categorised into three subtypes: 4a, 4b and 4c.
- 4a hair is extremely coiled and shows an S-shaped pattern. This hair type can range from being wiry and frizzy to smooth and fine-textured.
- The 4b hair type displays a Z-shaped pattern. This hair type has tightly wounded corkscrews that are short, springy, and quite coarse too. They have lesser moisture compared to type 4a.
Type 4 hair is also referred to as kinky, or coarse hair and is characterised by its tight, dense texture and natural lift. The volume that comes with type 4 hair is caused by its unique curl pattern.
Afro-Caribbean hair is delicate and tends to be very dry. As a result, special care needs to be taken to ensure its health and vitality. Have knowledge on what products work best for your hair type. It may be a lot of trial and error at first, so speaking to a professional is advised
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Tips for Afro-Caribbean Hair Care
- Moisturise and massage your scalp with hair oils daily. Research which oils do what.
- Wash days can be exhausting however, deep conditioning will give your hair a real boost of moisture and feed the strands from the inside out.
- Use sulphate free shampoos to avoid hair and scalp getting dry
- Protect your hairstyles with a silk scarf of a silk bonnet before bed (or if you’re a rough sleeper, invest in silk pillow cases)
- Lastly, have fun with your hair! Don’t be afraid to experiment with it. Your hair is your crown, be proud of it!
Historical Significance of Hair
In ancient Africa, hair was a significant symbolic tool which was utilised to communicate different messages and meanings about peoples’ social status, heritage, culture, religion and many other aspects of African societies.
In 2018, Adetutu Omotos presented a paper in the Journal of Pan African Studies which argued that hair was very important in ancient African civilizations. Hair represented one’s family history, social class, spirituality, tribe and marital status.
According to Mark Gordon, in ancient Africa “men of some tribes used to cut their hair only for the mourning for a death of a close relative which meant that a mourner’s spirit was desolated by the loss of a loved one. When they cut their hair… they had to dispose of it in a ceremonious way… they put their hair that was cut off in a river. Since they are a part of the earth they always put themselves back into the earth”.
When the slave trade commenced in the fifteenth century, captured Africans were sometimes forced to shave their hair as a way to humiliate them because of how they tremendously valued their hair. There were claims that the colonial authorities would touch the Africans’ hair and say that their hair felt like pubic hair and that such hair was dirty and unprofessional.
Thus, some Africans felt that the shaving of the African peoples’ hair was one of the many strategies that colonialists used to strip Africans of their identity and force them to forget their culture.
During the Mau Mau Rebellion - which occurred during the period of 1952 to 1960 as riot against colonial rule in Kenya and immensely contributed to Kenya’s independence - some African men and women were said to have rebelled by growing their hair, an act that was dreaded by the colonial authorities, to a point where anyone who had dreadlocks may have been attacked and even killed. As a result, some people now believe that the name “dreadlocks” originated from this rebellion by some African groups which colonists “dreaded”.
As a result of this history, Africans have for years been trained and informed to despise their hair because it differs from that of other ethnic groups. The message is frequently shared (overtly or covertly) that natural hairstyles are seen as ancient and unprofessional in the modern world, forcing women to straighten their hair to fit into European standards of beauty and professionalism.
During the Transatlantic slave trade, slave owners forcibly transported people from West Africa to colonies in modern-day Brazil and throughout the Americas, some African women, namely rice farmers, braided rice seeds into their hair as a means for survival of themselves and the culture of their homeland. Enslaved Africans also used cornrows to transfer and create maps to leave plantations and the home of their captors.
For a long period of time Black hair has been condemned rather than celebrated. Slave owners would shave off Black people’s hair, in an attempt to erase their identities. Black hair was not celebrated and it was seen as ‘easier’ to maintain than natural hair.
Racist oppression led Black people to believe their hair is ‘bad’, whilst ‘good’ hair is slinky, smooth, straight. In other words, caucasian!
As white colonial rule often involved dehumanising Africans, many within Africa felt that British colonists capitalised on the fact that hair held significant meaning in ancient Africa, and was highly valued by different African groups.
In her song Don’t Touch My Hair, Solange Knowles declares “Don’t touch my crown, don’t touch my pride”. These lyrics draw upon and reiterate the perspective that African hair is extremely important to the identity and heritage of Blacks in Africa, and recognises that this has historically been abused, offering a strong rejection and stand against such abuse.
Black hair is beautiful and bold. Black Hair Styles continue to evolve.
One thing I quickly realised is that views and attitudes towards hair (and how they have changed) have been very different in different regions of Africa. The primary source below highlights a potential topic for analysis in this area - that women cutting their hair short could actually be an act of self-liberation and assertion of freedom, that women in North Africa were trying to communicate this by cutting their hair into a bobs. It might have symbolised that they were choosing to cut ties with culturally exploitive norms or gendered norms of femininity.
My primary school had very strict rules regulating how the African students’ hair should look when we were at school. Hair extensions, for instance, were prohibited. Students were only allowed to have natural hair hairstyles which were deemed neat, such as cornrows. We were particularly prohibited from having dreadlocks; disobeying this rule resulted in expulsion.
100 Years of Black Hair | Allure
Examples of Traditional African Hairstyles
Here are a few examples of traditional African hairstyles, presenting their historical background, and present-day appeal:
- Amasunzu: Amasunzu finds its roots among the Tutsi and Hutu people of Rwanda. Dating back over 500 years, this traditional African hairstyle was worn by people of all social and marital statuses. Warriors wore it to signify strength and bravery. Single young girls wore it as a symbol of their virginity. It was a hairstyle of class as only the traditional elite flaunt it.
- Bantu Knots: Bantu Knots is a traditional African hairstyle that originated among the Zulu people of Southern Africa. Throughout its existence, women have worn it as a symbol of femininity and status. The Bantu hairstyle is one in which the hair is divided into sections, twisted, and then wrapped to form spiral knots. Although this traditional African hairstyle originated from the Zulus, Bantu is a word that means ‘people’ in over 300 African languages.
- Fulani Braids: This traditional African hairstyle is indigenous to the Fulani people of West Africa. Having originated among them thousands of years ago, the hairstyle remains a symbol of identity for Fulani women. Fulani braid is made by parting the hair in the middle (and side). Then, they are braided into tiny cornrows. Most times, wearers adorn them with hair accessories such as rings and beads.
- African Threads: African thread is a very common traditional African hairstyle all over the continent. The use of threads for braiding hair is common among the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria. Over time, threads have become popular all over West Africa. Among the different Africans tribes, threads have diverse names including Los, Eko Bridge, Akula, Sunga, etc. It is a natural hair straightener, which has been a major part of hair care routines for centuries. Also, it is a protective style that features many sectioned parts of the hair wrapped in threads.
- Zulu Topknots: As the name implies, this African traditional hairstyle traces its origin to the Zulu people of southern Africa. In the early centuries, women in these communities used the style as a status symbol-only members of the ruling class wore them. These days, although still heavily worn by Zulus, Topknots have permeated other cultures, such as the Ethiopians and Somalis. Zulu Topknot is made from hair gathered into knots and stretched into sections with a tie.
- Hamar Dreadlocks: Ochre deadlock is a cultural symbol of the Hamar tribe of Ethiopia. When the Hamar people came to settle in the Omo Valley, they blended into the society of nomads that they met there. Together with these nomads, they invented this traditional African hairstyle and called it ‘Goscha’. Hamar women create their deadlocks by binding resin with water, sectioning their hair, and using the mixture to style the hair into locks.
- Himba Dreadlocks: Himba is a tribe in Northwestern Nambia. For the Himbas, dreadlocks symbolize age and life. Himba stylists use a mixture of butter, ochre, and goat hair to create the locks. They also use hair extensions and ornamental accessories for beautification. Usually, teenagers wear strands of their dreadlocks hanging over their faces to symbolize their entrance into puberty.
- Mangbetu Hairstyle (Edamburu): Popularly known as the braided crown, Edamburu is an African traditional hairstyle native to the Mangbetu people of Congo. Edamburu is simply thin braids intricately woven into a crown.
- Ngala Hairstyle: Ngala is a traditional hairstyle that is native to the Igbo people of Nigeria. Among the Igbos, it is a symbol of pride and elegance for women. Igbo women usually wear Ngala on special traditional festivals, traditional marriages, and coronations.
- Sahrawi Cornrows: Sahrawi Cornrows are indigenous to the Sahrawi people of North Africa. Because North Africans have curly hair, their traditional styles are few. The Sahrawis wear cornrows in the typical Sahelian form; two sections running through the middle. In most cases, they leverage hair extensions to form two smaller braids that run down to the arms.
Admired hairstyles such as braids, dreadlocks, cornrows and bantu knots didn’t just appear from nowhere, in fact these hairstyles date back to our African ancestors.
Dreadlocks have a long history in Africa. The origin of braids can be traced back 5000 years in African culture to 3500 BC-they were very popular among women. Braids are not just a style; this craft is a form of art.
The popular cornrow hairstyle which now comes in variations, dated as far back as 3000 B.C., particularly in the Horn and West coasts of Africa. In the early 1500s, the style was used as a communication medium amongst various African societies that were later forced to migrate to the Americas as slaves, where their customs followed.
Symbols of Black power-such as the clenched fist at the top of the sleek, shiny, black comb-link Black hair with political meanings.
Through their artisanry, both designers express their individual relationships with hair to conceive of culturally, ethnically, and politically Black spaces. The milled wooden back post works as interior framing and is derived from combs used to style Black hair.
Black men hairstyles are also a representation of self expression. Black men can have a range of different hairstyles from classic cut fade to coloured dreadlocks.
- Twists are a simple protective hairstyle worn by Black men.
- The classic low cut fade, achieved with great skill and precision.
- Dreadlocks also known as ‘dreads’ or locs is a staple Black man hairstyle. Made popular by the Jamaican Reggae artists, the hairstyle is also widely worn by many Black rappers, athletes and socialites in the US & UK.
- A curly hightop is a haircut which is cut low on both sides of the hair and curly hair is left in the centre of the head. This hairstyle dates back to the 80s when Jheri Curls were popular in the black community.
Black men’s hair can also fall victim to cultural appropriation. We often see non-Black people with cainrows, locs and even fake afro hightops.
In her article “Visual Representations of Black Hair in Relaxer Advertisements,” Khulekani Madlel analysed the political and degrading elements embodied by visual media adverts about the unpleasant natural state of Black hair which were represented in a South African magazine, True Love.
Such media representations of black hair aimed to persuade black women to conform to using products that made their hair more “manageable” and “acceptable” in the modern world, highlighting the underlying racially discriminatory elements in South Africa and Africa at large. This has perpetuated double standards, cultural imperialism, and ignorance among many people in terms of understanding the history of hairstyles.
| Hairstyle | Origin | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Amasunzu | Rwanda (Tutsi and Hutu people) | Strength, bravery, virginity, class |
| Bantu Knots | Southern Africa (Zulu people) | Femininity, status |
| Fulani Braids | West Africa (Fulani people) | Identity |
| African Threads | Nigeria (Yoruba people), West Africa | Hair straightening, protection |
| Zulu Topknots | Southern Africa (Zulu people) | Status (historical) |
| Hamar Dreadlocks | Ethiopia (Hamar tribe) | Cultural symbol |
| Himba Dreadlocks | Northwestern Namibia (Himba tribe) | Age, life |
| Edamburu | Congo (Mangbetu people) | Braided crown |
| Ngala Hairstyle | Nigeria (Igbo people) | Pride, elegance |
| Sahrawi Cornrows | North Africa (Sahrawi people) | Traditional Sahelian form |
