The Power of My Hair: Indigenous Culture & Identity

The power of my hair
In recent history, it was customary for schools to force Indigenous children to cut o their
hair, robbing¹ them from their braids² which served as a strong cultural symbol – one that
wove identity, ancestry and pride together.
Jim Awashish, from the Cree Nation, learnt directly from his grandmother just how signicant
long hair is in Indigenous culture.
“My grandmother used to tell me, ‘Grandson, grow your hair, keep it long, that is your
connection to Mother Earth’,” Jim said. “It’s your extra-sensory feeling for everything that is
out there.”
But just like so many in Jim’s generation, he was forced to go to a residential school³ as a child
and his braids were taken away.
“I was ordered to go get my hair cut,” recalled Jim. “They were stripping⁴ me of my culture. It
felt like they were taking away a part of me.”
While the braid comes rst to mind for many when thinking of Indigenous hair, today’s youth
are starting to outgrow the stereotypes surrounding it.
“When you wear it around, it’s to show pride.”
Jim is amazed to see how the next generation is starting to normalize dierent styles of hair,
with several of his own grandsons wearing their braided hair with pride.
“I’m so proud of all the young people doing this because this is their identity,” said Jim. “When
we talk about identity, that’s what we are talking about. We are talking about who you are. Not
what society made you. It’s about you being a First Nation by living it, breathing it, feeling it
and understanding it.”
Notes
1. stealing
2. tresses
3. A residential school in Canada was a government-funded boarding school for
Indigenous children, run mainly by Christian churches, where children were forcibly
removed from their families and communities to be educated, Christianized, and
assimilated into Euro-Canadian society. Indigenous languages and cultures were
suppressed, and many students suered abuse, neglect, and trauma. The system
operated from the 1800s until the last school closed in the 1990s.
4. dépouiller
5. overcome

Questions
Read the text and answer the following questions in your notebook.
1. Read the article and nd out about the importance of hair for Indigenous people. (7
lines max)
2.
a) According to the text, explain what happened to Indigenous people in residential schools.
(3 lines max)
b) Explain why, focusing on the words: “cultural symbol”, “identity” and “ancestry” you
read in the text. (3 lines max)
3. According to Jim, comment on the way Indigenous hair is perceived today. (5 lines
max)
The power of my hair = Le pouvoir de mes cheveux
Indigenous = autochtones
Residential school = école résidentielle
C’est un type d’école au canada où les enfants autochtones étaient forces et vivre loin de
leur famille. Les écoles étaient nancées par le gouvernement et souvent dirigées par des
églises chrétiennes. L’objectif était d’assimiler les enfants à la culture euro-canadienne.
Les langues, cultures et traditions autochtones étaient interdites, et beaucoup d’enfants
subissaient maltraitance et traumatisme.
Question :
1) Read the article and nd out about the importance of hair for Indigenous people
Hair is a strong cultural symbol for Indigenous people. It represents identity, ancestry, and
pride. It connects them to their culture, traditions, and Mother Earth. Hair carries spiritual
and emotional signicance. Cutting it was historically a way to strip them of their heritage.
Today, wearing naturally or in braids shows cultural pride and belonging.
2)a) According to the text, explain what happened to Indigenous people in residential
schools.
Indigenous children were forcibly sent to residential schools. Their hair was cut ,and they
were stripped of their culture. They experienced suppression of their language, traditions,
and personal identity.

2) b) Explain why, focusing on the words: “cultural symbol”, “identity” and “ancestry”
you read in the text.
Hair is a cultural symbol linking Indigenous people to their ancestry and traditions. Cutting
it aected their identity, making them feel disconnected from who they are. Hair represents
pride in their heritage and a visible link to their family and community.
3) According to Jim, comment on the way Indigenous hair is perceived today.
Today, Indigenous youth are challenging stereotypes about their hair. Braided long hair is
worn with pride and as a statement of identity. It is seem as a way to celebrate culture
rather than something to hide. Jim observes younger generations embracing their heritage
condently. Hair now symbolizes living and feeling Indigenous culture.
Vocabulary:
Customary (adjective): Usual in a particular place or situation
Example: It is customary for mourners to wear white.
Indigenous (adjective): used to refer to the people who originally lived in a place, rather than
people who moved there from somewhere else, or to things that relate to these people.
Example: British attitudes towards indigenous societies are also integral to imperial history.
Wove (past simple of weave): to make cloth by repeatedly crossing a single thread through
two sets of long threads on a loom (special frame).
To strip: To remove something from somewhere.
Example: When you strip the word from its context, it loses its meaning.
Stereotypes (noun): a set idea that people have about what someone or something is like,
especially an idea that is wrong.
Example: Adverts are full of stereotypes.
First Nation (noun) : one of the groups of people whose ancestors lived in North America or
Australia before the arrival of Europeans. This term is used mainly to refer to the indigenous
peoples of the area that is now Canada, not including Inuit and Métis people.
Example: People from the town of Gold River, including many from the First Nation band,
had come down to the dock to watch what was happening.