Traditional African Hairstyles

Every day in Africa is primed to be a bad hair day, with its tropical high temperatures and extreme humidity, or drying desert air. African women have long faced the challenges of such an environment by wearing their hair in the most carefree, natural way or adopting creative styles that meet its demands.

Naturals

At the top of the carefree hairstyle list for traditional Africa is going au natural. The "Natural" is the way African hair grows from the scalp without any chemical processing. This is usually a close-cropped style. Most people recognize this hairdo as an "Afro."

The Afro is an Americanized term for natural hair worn longer and without the use of any heat or chemicals to tame its kinks. The Afro gained popularity in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement as an act of defiance against centuries of cultural oppression and an embracing of their African heritage by black Americans.

Back on the African continent, the Afro was just called hair. It had no political aspirations other than the God-given covering for heads under the blazing hot African sun.

Tribal Hair

Africans, especially the tall warrior Zulu people of southern Africa, often sported center or side parts in their natural hair, showing a flair for style and hair fashion even as they traversed the African savannah hunting wild game, their source of food. Beads are the pride of the Zulu people, with different beads having distinct symbolic purposes. The Zulu often wear beads to adorn their natural hair, with multiple strands used as jewelry.

Other African tribes such as the Himba from north Namibia, a desert province, make a red-colored ointment from butter, ash, red ochre and herbs that they apply to their hair and skin, giving them a unique reddish-brown color. Beautification is an important ritual for Himba women even as they go about living their very laborious, nomadic lives building homes, hauling firewood, tending livestock and taking care of children.

Surma and Mursi tribes of East Africa's Omo Valley create high fashion including head coverings from the wild trees, exotic flowers and lush vegetation of the area bordering Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan. These tribal women create natural looks for the hair that any Western haute couture designer would envy.

In deference to traditional cultures across the continent, many Africans both tribal and urban wear hair coverings. Scarfs are a mainstay of the African hairstyle, acting as hair and head covering and fashion statement in one. Whether intricately tied and used to coordinate with a fashionable ensemble, adorned as protection against the sun, or as part of the Muslim practice of covering the bodies of women, scarfs are a traditional part of the African hairstyle.

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References

• African Tribes
• Out of Africa Mother Nature Inspired Fashion