The History Of Mohawk

Let's take a look at the origin of this hairstyle.

The mohawk style is usually associated with the anarchic punk movement.

But historically, the hairstyle belongs to an Indian confederacy called Iroquois. This region was once colonized by France and then it was colonized by England. They live in North America and the confederacy consists of five tribes who speak the ıroquoian language. England named them Five Nations for discriminating against the First Nations of people.

The five tribes are the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. After 1772, the Tuscarora people also join the confederacy, and with that, the Iroquois Confederacy augment to Six Nations.

From this information, we comprehend that this hairstyle comes from the indigenous people. Other than the Six Nations, it is observed that the Pawnee tribe also uses the mohawk as a traditional style.

But how does mohawk take a trip to modernity? James Smith, the famous politician of the 18th century, spotted this specific hairstyle when he was captured by Indians. In 1939 a production named Drums Along The Mohawk from Hollywood made a great impact on the Mohawk culture.

In Ukraine, a mohawk-like style is located in the Ukrainian Cossack Culture. The archeological discovery of a caveman- given the name Clonycavan Man- in Ireland again draws attention to the Mohawk. Because the hair of this caveman has the mohawk style.

During the time period of the Vietnam War, the soldiers shave their hair in a mohawk style for looking more intimidating to the enemy. With the anti-political action of punk, they took the mohawk to protest the conventional beauty of society.

Briefly, like all cultural elements, the mohawk comes from a long journey and transformation to our days. Nowadays, the mohawk is slowly gaining popularity with regard to the curiosity about vintage styles. Lately in Turkey, a Netflix series named Uysallar showed this style as a protest against the general idea of society.