Long Hairs

As I began to read chapters 1-7 of Black Elk Speaks over Easter break, the most interesting part of the Ogalala Sioux to me was the introduction of people that were given the name "long hairs." In the preface of the 1961 edition, Neihardt spoke of a certain Lakota type of people he had come into contact with called the "long hairs". "Long hairs" were the people that not only refused to cut their hair, but also maintained their way of life as Lakota men during the late-nineteenth and early twentieth century. The cutting of their hair or change to Euro-American style of dress was symbolic of their acceptance of white man's culture. By 1930, only a few men refused to cut their hair.

Neihardt chooses to focus an entire chapter of the process of the Euro-Americanization found in Lakota culture during chapter 9, "The Rubbing Out of the Long Hair." I thought that the use of the term "long hairs" has been one of the most interesting parts of Black Elk Speaks because it portrays perhaps the greatest fear of these Native Americans. To become one of the Wasichus is to no longer be a part of the Ogalala Sioux. It is to disrespect the tribe, and conform to society out of fear and weakness. More than being killed or kicked off of their land, I believe that this is what the Native Americans were the most afraid of. When Black Elk talks about the change of people such as Spotted Tail into Wasichu, it sounds as though the rubbing out of the long hair is the final step before becoming a Wasichu. The whole idea of growing long hair is a testament to the Native Americans great spirit, and to cut off the hair is to no longer have those spiritual powers.