I was at a American Legion Post and this fellow said he was Native American! Look I have no sideburns! What do I do? I would never shave with the flint I have found! Did Native Americans have NO facial hair?
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Actually, they used a mixture of bear fat, ashes from the fire pits, and a root known as thunder root (smilax sp.) which was allowed to ferment for several weeks. They would then apply it and wait for an hour or two - would strip them clean ...... ...... ....... just kidding. :laugh:
They did shave though, many would shave back their hair-line to give a broader forhead. You have to remember, the points you are picking up have been sitting for 500-10,000 years. A good quality flint can give you a scalpel-like edge. :laugh:
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Dan
"Why did Native Americans not have facial hair?". The answer is that they did (and still do).
First, watch Dances With Wolves very carefully and count the modern Native American actors with eyebrows. Then go to the album of hundreds of historic photographs produced by Edward S Curtis of Native Americans; you will find that historically almost all natives on the North American continent plucked out all their facial hair (women as well as men), using clam shells as tweezers, later using metal tweezers obtained in trade.
Some native men permitted their facial hair to grow very long, such as on the Northwest Coast, in California and the far South-West; some of these tribes have long had interaction with Spanish, Mexican and White American settlers and may not be full-blood Indians; in the North-West the natives of such peoples as the Haida and Kwakiutl may represent a second or third wave of migrations from Asia and may be racially distinct from other Native Americans.
In general, Native Americans have little or no body hair and their facial hair is generally sparse. Historically, plucking out this facial growth was part of everyday grooming. Today, such traditional activities as plucking facial hair or (for women) painting the hair parting red have long been forgotten. Very few modern natives have any concept at all of their own traditions and culture, mainly as a result of such things being completely banned by the American Government during the late 19th century
Jack
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