There have been a lot of stories that have been told about slavery periods. And over the years these stories seem to be celebrated to mark the bravery and the cultural liberation of the people. Even to date, these stories are told to educate the recent generations on what transpired during the periods. It is also as a way of connecting with their roots.
The stories vary from the practices the slaves kept. How they navigated their ways in the hands of their colonizers. These stories and events formed a huge part of the history that is currently read and listened to in the modern day. Particularly in Africa, there were a plethora of ways that the slaves communicated with each other. These peculiar antics made it easy for them to communicate without being noticed
Being slaves very much translated or meant the loss of freedom and rights. The fear of the colonizers was strong but the longing for freedom was stronger. This longing led to the invention of ways to be able to communicate with each other fluently without the colonizers having a clue about what they discussed.
How did cornrows emerge?
They started with markings on leaves but they were stopped from writing. Since they were not allowed to write, they had to devise new ways to communicate frequently without being noticed. Among such methods was “braiding of hair” not just any kind of hair, cornrows were used to communicate.
The word “cornrows” emerged from “cane rows”. This is due to the fact that they were working in sugar cane fields and had to escape the plantations. They passed down this method and taught the younger generations. This practice was particular to the Africans as they used it as not just a way to reach their roots. It was a craft, a way of life, an escape plan which worked well for centuries.
“Depictions of women with cornrows have been found in Stone Age paintings in the Tassili Plateau of the Sahara, and have been dated as far back as 3000 B.C. There are also Native American paintings as far back as 1,000 years showing cornrows as a hairstyle. This tradition of female styling in cornrows has remained popular throughout Africa. Particularly in the Horn of Africa and West Africa[1]. Men also braided their hair to pass these messages[2]
However, it was not in all regions that the men also braided their hair. This is because the white masters shaved the hair of the black male slaves for sanitary purposes. But even in all the cruelty, they could not bring themselves to chop off the luscious fro that grew on the heads of the black women.
How are messages passed across with cornrows?
How is such possible?
It definitely is, passing messages or rather communication through the hair is one of the wildest things a person can guess which makes it perfect for the job.
Cornrows were discreet and it was a language almost all young or old knew how to speak too well as they braided each other’s hair. The messages passed with braids were maps. When an escape was planned, maps were weaved on a person’s head and that person would serve as the messenger, to pass the message across.
The colonizers seemed to be fascinated with the unique designs and markings each design seemed to have. Failing to take notice of the hidden messages in the hairstyle. The hair texture of the slaves also seemed to play a part in this strategy. The coarse texture of African hair seems to have done the trick.
Slaves worked in maze-like plantations with tall fields and stems of grass. These were built like mazes so the slaves could get lost while trying to escape[3]. These cornrows after being accurately planned, the maps were drawn on the sand by a woman who knew the way in and out of the maze as a blueprint. This is before being weaved on the slave’s head. The cornrows were crafted and weaved in a way that would be easily understood and followed.
The slave that carried the braid also played an important role in the plan. The slave must be very familiar with the fields and be able to get into all the places the slaves worked. In most cases, a teen or young woman was used to pass the message. In cases where the map was long or required a complex style, it was then braided on the hair of a slave that had a larger skull. Or one with fuller hair and later passed to their lovers or husbands. To the colonizers, the women were no threat. So it went on for a really long time and proved to be effective.
The curved braids meant that the road would be curved. And the passage to the road that they would escape. The straight braids meant that the road to escape was straight. The maps were carefully checked and braided accurately as it would lead a good number of them to safety.
A particular number of braids could indicate possible escape routes or even be used to signal the meet-up time. Slaves usually hid fragments of seeds in the braid to give the wearer or the bearer of the message some nourishment while escaping. The seeds they hid in their hair were not just for nourishment, they also planned to plant the seeds when they were liberated. The seeds buried were mostly of plants that grew within a short period of time.
The braids only did not serve as a map to escape but as a way they hid gold which would enable them to survive after they escaped. When the gold was too thick to be buried in the hair they disguised the gold in earth and wooden beads and attached them to their usually long braids. And for the smaller fragments they buried it in their hair and braided them to the roots for it to stay hidden.
Naming the cornrow styles
Among cornrows was a style called “Departs”
In parts of Colombia, women used a hairstyle or a way of braiding called Departs, these were also used to escape. This hairstyle was used to inform the others of the period that they would escape. It was always braided days before the escape. The depart hairstyle could also be braided in a style with a bun on top. This bun was braided into a small cage-like structure where they would store maize, peas, sprouts, and fruits in leaves. Then shove them in the bun and through this they could feed.
In modern-day, cornrows serve as a protective hairstyle and as a means of beautification. The cornrows should serve as a reminder to the brave women who rescued their people using their resources and creativity to escape from slavery. So the next time you get cornrows or you see someone wearing them, remember how they played hero.
[1] Bridget Boakaye Face2Face ‘How Cornrows Where used as a means to escape during slavery in South America’ (2018)
[2] Ibid
[3] The Cornrow Haiirstyle by Koma Club (2024)
