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Native Americans do not cut their hair in mourning. That was a historic feature of certain tribes that is no longer practised today.

Among the Plains tribes and certain other groups, the hair was considered to be a container for part of a person's spirit - which is the reason for some tribes such as the Crows and Mandans cultivating the hair to very long lengths or decorating the scalplock with paint, beads and feathers.

Taking an enemy scalp made certain that his spirit would wander aimlessly without ever reaching the afterlife and cutting off much of the hair showed that a mourner's spirit was reduced and desolated by the loss of a loved one. Naturally the hair would grow long again in time, restoring the person's spirit and signifying that they had got over their loss. Among the Crows, a widow of a warrior who had been killed by an enemy (such as Pikuni Blackfoot) could be consoled by presenting her with the scalp of a Pikuni warrior (even if it were not the particular enemy who killed her husband).

Many native American groups had no such beliefs and scalpings had no such significance. Every tribe was different.

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12y ago
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Anonymous

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4y ago
As a Native American, SOME tribes do cut their hair whenever they had a member pass but it depends on the tribe they are from. Not all do.

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Q: Why do native americans cut their hair when mourning?
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Men in these tribes only cut their hair to show grief or shame, ... Braids and long flowing hair are still popular hairstyles, especially among women, but also for some men. Native Americans in some Plains and Western tribes continue to place great spiritual value on their hair, cutting it only when they are in mourning.


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