Mohawk hairstyle#Fauxhawk variants

The mohawk (also referred to as a mohican in British English) is a hairstyle in which, in the most common variety, both sides of the head are shaven, leaving a strip of noticeably longer hair in the center. Mohawk hairstyles have existed for thousands of years. As of the 21st century, they are most commonly associated with punks, or broader non-conformity.

The mohawk is also sometimes referred to as an iro in reference to the Iroquois (who include the Mohawk people), from whom the hairstyle is supposedly derived – though historically the hair was plucked out rather than shaved. Additionally, hairstyles bearing these names more closely resemble those worn by the Pawnee, rather than the Mohawk, Mohicans, Mohegan, or other groups whose names are phonetically similar.{{Cn|date=June 2024}}

The world record for the tallest full mohawk goes to Joseph Grisamore, also known as the Mohawk King, who has a {{convert|108|cm|ftin|frac=2|adj=on}} tall mohawk,{{cite news |last1=Stephenson |first1=Kristen |title=World's tallest mohawk takes the Guinness World Records 2021 edition to new heights |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2020/8/world%E2%80%99s-tallest-mohawk-takes-the-guinness-world-records-2021-edition-to-new-628594 |work=Guinness World Records |date=27 August 2020 |language=en-gb}}{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Lauren M. |title=There is a new world record for tallest mohawk and it's a hair-raising accomplishment |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/15/us/tallest-mohawk-record-trnd/index.html |work=CNN |date=16 September 2020 |language=en}} while the world record for the tallest mohican hairstyle goes to Kazuhiro Watanabe, who has a {{convert|113.5|cm|ftin|frac=2|adj=on}} tall mohawk.{{cite news |title=Record Holder Profile: Kazuhiro Watanabe, the world's tallest mohican hairstyle |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2012/9/record-holder-profile-kazuhiro-watanabe-tallest-mohican-44821 |work=Guinness World Records |date=13 September 2012 |language=en-gb}}

Etymology

While the mohawk hairstyle takes its name from the people of the Mohawk nation, an indigenous people of North America who originally inhabited the Mohawk Valley in Upstate New York,{{cite web |url=http://www.bigorrin.org/mohawk_kids.htm |title=Facts for Kids: Mohawk Indians (Mohawks) |website=www.bigorrin.org}} the association comes from Hollywood and more specifically from the popular 1939 film Drums Along the Mohawk starring Henry Fonda.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

The Mohawk and the rest of the Iroquois confederacy (Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Tuscarora, and Oneida) in fact wore a square of hair on the back of the crown of the head. The Mohawk did not shave their heads when creating this square of hair but rather pulled the hair out, small tufts at a time. The following is a first-hand account of James Smith, who was captured during the French and Indian War and adopted into the Mohawk tribe:{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

{{blockquote|[A] number of Indians collected about me and one of them began to pull hair out of my head. He had some ashes on a piece of bark in which he frequently dipped his fingers in order to take a firmer hold, and so he went on as if he had been plucking a turkey until he had all the hair clean out of my head, except a small spot about three or four inches square on my crown the remaining hair was cut and three braids formed which were decorated{{cn|date=October 2024}}}}

Therefore, a true hairstyle of the Mohawks was one of plucked-out hair, leaving a three-inch square of hair on the back crown of the head with three short braids of hair decorated. The three braids of a True Mohawk hairstyle are represented today on traditional headdresses of the Mohawk known as a Gustoweh. Mohawk Gustowehs have three upright eagle feathers that represent the three braids of long ago.{{Cite web |url=http://www.warof1812rph.com/wp-content/uploads/Gustoweh-traditional-headdress-of-condoled-Royanni-Chiefs-Six-Nations-Copy-Copy1.jpg |title=Example of Gustowehs|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120407095616/http://www.warof1812rph.com/wp-content/uploads/Gustoweh-traditional-headdress-of-condoled-Royanni-Chiefs-Six-Nations-Copy-Copy1.jpg |archive-date=7 April 2012 }} When not decorated, the very short braids were allowed to hang loose as seen in Good Peter's image in the referenced article.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

The name Mohican is more common in the UK, popularized by the use of the style in the 1971 BBC adaptation of The Last of the Mohicans, though in that show it was actually worn by characters representing the Huron people.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Historical use

File:Pawnee father and son 1912.jpg father and son, 1912; note the father's hairstyle similar to a modern mohican]]

The hairstyle has been in existence in many parts of the world for millennia. For instance, the Clonycavan Man, a 2000-year-old male bog body discovered near Dublin, Ireland, in 2003, was found to be wearing a mohawk styled with plant oil and pine resin.{{cite news |url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060801/od_nm/ireland_bogbodies_dc |title=Ireland Bog Bodies |work=Yahoo! News |agency=Reuters |date=1 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060818023351/http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060801/od_nm/ireland_bogbodies_dc |archive-date=18 August 2006}} Herodotus stated that the Macai, a northern Libyan tribe, "shave their hair so as to leave tufts, letting the middle of their hair grow long, but round this on all sides shaving it close to the skin."{{cite web |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2707/2707-h/2707-h.htm#link42H_4_0001 |title=The History of Herodotus, Book IV, ch. 175 |author=Herodotus |via=Project Gutenberg}}

Among the Pawnee people, who historically lived in present-day Nebraska and in northern Kansas, a "mohawk" hairstyle was common.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

When going to war, 16th-century Ukrainian Cossacks would shave their heads, leaving a long central strip. This haircut was known as an oseledets or chupryna, and was often braided or tied in a topknot.{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Ewa M. |author1-link=Ewa Thompson |title=The Search for Self-definition in Russian Literature |date=1991 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |location=Amsterdam |isbn=90-272-2213-4 |page=22 |edition=1st}}

During World War II, many American GIs, notably paratroopers from the 17th Airborne Division and 101st Airborne Division, wore mohawks to intimidate their enemies.See https://twitter.com/WWIIpix/status/977594040307867650/photo/1 for an example{{cite web |title=Four Hours of Fury |publisher=Scribner |url=https://www.jamesfenelon.com/four-hours-of-fury/ |access-date=April 21, 2020}} It was also occasionally worn by American troops during the Vietnam War.See {{Cite web |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/redwarriorsvietnam/5427595171/in/photostream|title=113|date=17 July 2010 }} for an example{{cite web |title=Biography for Victor Magnotta |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0536312/bio |website=IMDb |access-date=May 25, 2013}} In the early 1950s, mohawks were worn by some jazz musicians such as Sonny Rollins,{{cite web |title=Sonny Rollins wore a Mohawk hairstyle |url=http://atane.tumblr.com/post/2897620329/sonny-rollins-wore-a-mohawk-hairstyle-long-before |publisher=Audiophile Life |access-date=May 25, 2013 |archive-date=June 19, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619183024/http://atane.tumblr.com/post/2897620329/sonny-rollins-wore-a-mohawk-hairstyle-long-before |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |title=Lost & Found: Sonny Rollins Interview |url=http://lamentforastraightline.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/lost-found-sonny-rollins-interview/ |publisher=Lament For A Straight Line |access-date=May 25, 2013 |date=July 23, 2009}} and In the 1970s, Punk subculture wore mohawks.

Varieties

File:Mohawk - Millennium Park.jpg with euro‑hawk]]

File:Punk-27947.jpg

Although a mohawk is most widely defined as a narrow, central strip of upright hair running from the forehead to the nape, with the sides of the head bald,{{cite web |url=http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/Mohawk_2 |title=Definition of Mohawk |publisher=education.yahoo.com |access-date=May 24, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718133929/http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/Mohawk_2 |archive-date=July 18, 2011}}{{cite web |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/Mohican |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111204040333/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/Mohican |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 4, 2011 |title=Mohican |website=Oxford Dictionaries – English}} the term can be applied more loosely to various similar hairstyles, many of which have informal names.

A reverse mohawk, also known as a nohawk or hawkmo, rather than the strip of longer hair in the center of the scalp, features a shaved strip from the forehead to the nape of the neck leaving hair on either side of the line. Pioneering examples were sported by professional wrestler Road Warrior Hawk, and English rock singer Peter Gabriel whilst on tour with progressive rock band Genesis in 1973.{{cite web |url=http://lifeismelody.com/peter-gabriel-back-to-front-tour/ |title=Peter Gabriel Wraps Up the Back to Front Tour |website=lifeismelody.com}}

A fauxhawk copies the style of a mohawk, but without shaving the sides of the head and not extending past the peak of the cranium. The fauxhawk is typically worn with a small but noticeable spike in the middle, though usually considerably shorter than many traditional mohawks. The style re-emerged in the 2000s, with some of the popularly known wearers being Travis vocalist Fran Healy, David Beckham, Elijah Wood, and Jónsi. The fauxhawk is also known as the "Hoxton fin" after the Hoxton district of London, where it was fashionable in the 1990s.{{cite news |title=Where have all the cool people gone? |work=The Guardian |date=November 21, 2003 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,3604,1089928,00.html}}
A euro-hawk is a fauxhawk where the hair down the center of the head is longer than the hair on the sides. Sometimes the top of the hair is long enough to cover up the shorter sides when combed down. Some sports figures and fashion models can be found wearing euro-hawks in various lengths, textures, and colors. The mohawk had been a style mostly seen on punk rockers and the like, but fauxhawks and euro-hawks have become more broadly popular. The ponyhawk or pony hawk is a type of euro-hawk created by a row of ponytails going down the middle of the head. This look was worn by contestant Sanjaya Malakar on an episode of the television series American Idol.{{cite web |url=http://www.hollyscoop.com/american-idol/ryan-seacrest-gets-everyone-laughing_10356.aspx |title=Ryan Seacrest Gets Everyone Laughing}}

File:Wave Gotik Treffen 2007.jpg| Two goths with backcombed deathhawks

File:Wattie exploited2.jpg|Wattie Buchan of the Scottish punk rock band The Exploited sporting a dreadhawk

File:Chelsea hawk.jpg|A Chelsea hawk

File:Elvis of Left Alone.jpg|Left Alone vocalist Elvis Cortez with a liberty spike mohawk

Notable people who have had Mohawk haircuts

File:NancyReaganMrTChristmas1983.jpg portraying Santa Claus at the White House with First Lady Nancy Reagan in 1983]]

Richie Stotts (born 1953), American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
Jean Beauvoir, American singer-songwriter, bassist, guitarist, and producer
Gabriel Boric (born 1986), President of Chile
Joakim Brodén (born 1980), Swedish musician
Wattie Buchan (born 1957), Scottish punk rock vocalist and frontman for Scottish punk band The Exploited
Darby Crash (1958–1980), American punk rock vocalist and frontman for The Germs
Bobak Ferdowsi (born 1979), flight engineer at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Andy Kaufman (1949–1984), American entertainer and performance artist
Kevin Nash (born 1959), American actor and former professional wrestler
Trot Nixon (born 1974), American former baseball player
Jonathan Papelbon (born 1980), American MLB pitcher
Scot Pollard (born 1975), American NBA basketball player
Sanada (born 1988), Japanese professional wrestler
Catya Sassoon (1968–2002), American actress, singer, and model
Michelle Shocked (born 1962), American singer-songwriter
Sisqó (born 1978), American singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actor
Mr. T (born 1952), American actor and professional wrestler
Viscera (1971–2014), American professional wrestler
Elisha Wiesel (born 1972), American hedge fund manager
Wendy O. Williams (1949–1998), American singer
Brian Wilson (born 1982), American MLB pitcher
Joe Strummer (1952–2002), British punk rock vocalist
Chuck Dukowski (born 1954), American punk rock musician
Anthony Kiedis (born 1962), American musician and actor
Flea (born 1962), American musician and actor
John Fruciante (born 1970), American guitarist
Mario Balotelli (born 1990), Italian professional footballer
Arturo Vidal (born 1987), Chilean professional Footballer
Travis Barker (born 1975), American musician
Andre Russell (born 1988), Jamaican cricketer
Jared Leto (born 1971), American actor and musician
G-Dragon (born 1988), Korean musician