If i didn't find a couple of years ago this photo album that was featuring more than 100 African women with the hairstyles they were wearing prior to colonization, i would surely had never started ! Hair played a major cultural function in pre colonial societies. Depending of the society, they used hairstyle to communicate on their religion, wealth, age, social class, tribe, ethnic identity, marital statute. Hair had also a lot of spiritual connotation communicating on things like fertility, vitality (the more hair you have, the more fertile and strong, healthy, powerful you are supposed to be) and hair was for some a way to communicate with divine (the longer the hair, the most receptive you are to receive message from spirituals entity). Hairdressing in africa was for rusted friend or relative. Because of the strong spiritual connotation of hair, the hair in the hand of enemy could become an ingredient in the production of a dangerous “charm” to injure the...