Sacred strands: Honoring Indigenous tradition through hair at Gathering of Nations

For some, braided hairstyles are just a way to keep hair away from the face and eyes, a simple hairstyle meant for nothing more than convenience.

For Indigenous people preparing for dance competitions at the Gathering of Nations on Friday morning, hair is a historical aspect of culture, a signifier of major life events.

The Gathering of Nations is the largest powwow in North America, involving nearly 800 tribes from the U.S. and Canada. For more than 35 years, it has been held in Albuquerque, typically the fourth weekend in April, and is usually attended by tens of thousands of spectators. This year it’s at Expo New Mexico and continued Friday. The weekend encompasses dance competitions, drum groups, horse and rider parades and singing competitions.

On the whole, it’s one of the largest celebrations of Indigenous culture in the world, and a big part of the regalia will be how many people wear their hair and what they put in it.

Time was, Indigenous children were often forced to cut their hair in boarding schools, erasing cultural identity in a way that was meant to spread fear and assimilation.

Years later, Indigenous people choose to wear their hair long as a form of rebellion against those times, and to show their pride in their heritage.

Lillian Shakespeare-Largo, 24, grew up doing her hair, and was taught by her Navajo family that only tradition could prompt major changes to hair length.

“I grew up knowing our hair is very sacred, and we only cut our hair if, for example, we lose a family member or if we’re spiritually imbalanced,” she said as she braided her hair into an intricate design.

As part of preparing for the Gathering of Nations, Shakespeare-Largo will also include feathers in her hair, not just for accessory, but for spiritual and historical meaning.

“I have a side plume feather, which will go right here, and two feathers together in the center,” Shakespeare-Largo said as she pointed to a small braid on the left side of her head. “They’re like the tail of the eagle.”

Alysia Kieran spent her Friday morning preparing a station for her two daughters, braiding one’s hair while the other did her makeup. For Kieran, hairstyling has always been in her life and will always be an important part of her family’s culture.

“My aunt taught me to do my hair when I started dancing,” Kieran said as she applied hair gel on her youngest daughter, Althea’s, head. “I was taught in the old way that you don’t cut a child’s hair when they’re a baby. But she’s been growing her hair since she was a baby and just cut it when my grandma passed away.”

For men, hair traditions are more flexible, depending on the tribe, but still hold value.

Keith Metoxen hails from the Iroquois Nation in Wisconsin, also known as the Five Nations. He said while hairstyles aren’t quite as important to the tribe, head regalia is.

“We are an eastern coast Indigenous and the Mohawk hair type, which is where the name came from,” Metoxen said. “We didn’t have long hair and our whole attire is different. The long hair is more of a western Indian thing. Our whole attire is different and what the world knows is what they see on TV, which is western Indian culture.”

Eagles hold importance to the tribe, and Metoxen waited on a list to receive eagle feathers from deceased eagles to honor tradition while not contributing to the diminishing population of the bird.

“I use turkey feathers and eagle feathers,” he said, donning a hat filled with feathers. “We honor the eagle because, in our belief, it was the highest-flying bird. It touched the creator’s land, and that’s how we honor the bird to this day.”

For many Indigenous cultures, hair is history, heritage and most importantly, love.

“You only allow people that are very close to you, like family or wives or husbands, to comb your hair,” said Davi Gonzales, a dance competition participant at Gathering of Nations and tribal member of the Los Comanches de la Serna, a group from Taos. “Sometimes people may be in a bad spot in life, and they might put bad energy into your hair, so I only let my girlfriend braid it because I know she loves me.”

Gathering of Nations Friday at Expo New Mexico