The history of African hair braiding

I thought I would shed a little light on this last article about African hair braiding. This became interesting to me as I had just recently had the opportunity to get my hair braided for the first time by a woman from Senegal, South Africa and it was fascinating on how quick she was with the weaving process of hair and just having my hair done by someone from my heritage was also rewarding. So here is a little history about African braiding and pictures.

Origins of Hair Braiding

A clay sculpture from the ancient Nok civilization of Nigeria circa 500 B.C. shows a figure adorned with cornrows. In Africa historically braids could be used as a way to express religion, kinship, status, age and ethnicity, among other attributes.

When the people of Africa were brought to the New World as slaves, they were initially confronted with a loss of identify. As they traversed the Middle Passage--or the voyage by ship from Africa to America--their heads were often shaved for sanitary reasons. But their hair grew back, and with it so did the culture.

Braids and Slavery

In slavery, many Africans brought back the braids both as a way to stay connected to their heritage and to assert their independence. The style also fit with the requirement that their hair be neat and tidy while working on plantations.

But it was not without improvisation. They didn't have the combs and herbal treatments traditionally used in Africa, so the slaves relied on bacon grease, butter and kerosene to clean and condition their hair.

Read more: The History of African-American Hair Braiding | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5792009_history-african_american-hair-braiding.html#ixzz0uHCREi1T