Porcupine Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two families of animals: the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae, and the New World porcupines of family, Erethiz ...

hair roaches are a traditional male

headdress Headgear, headwear, or headdress is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on one's head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, d ...

of a number of Native American tribes in what is now

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

and Missouri River regions, including the

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

who lived where

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

now stands. They were and still are most often worn by dancers at

pow wow A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Powwows today allow Indigenous people to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their cultures. Powwows may be private or p ...

s as

regalia Regalia is a Latin plurale tantum word that has different definitions. In one rare definition, it refers to the exclusive privileges of a sovereign. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and dress accessories of a sovereig ...

Sharitarish - Wicked Chief - by Charles Bird King, c1822

The porcupine hair roach is often made of

guard hair Guard hair or overhair is the outer layer of hair of most mammals, which overlay the fur. Guard hairs are long and coarse and protect the rest of the pelage (fur) from abrasion and frequently from moisture. They are visible on the surface of the fu ...

of the porcupine, the tail hair of the

white-tail deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

, moose hair, or artificial stiff hair; often, the hair is dyed a bright color, such as red or yellow, which can symbolize a veteran of combat. Some roaches from the southern plains are made with black

turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

beards. The term roach also applies to the traditional

Mohawk hairstyle The mohawk (also referred to as a Mohican) 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. It is today worn as an emblem of non-conformity. The ...

worn by some warriors of some southern plains tribes such as the

Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska ...

and some Algonquian tribes, such as the

Mohegan The Mohegan are an Algonquian Native American tribe historically based in present-day Connecticut. Today the majority of the people are associated with the Mohegan Indian Tribe, a federally recognized tribe living on a reservation in the east ...

and

Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory inclu ...

. This is where their hair is shorn like a horse’s mane which was considered stylish in the 19th century. All their hair would be cut, save a strip down the middle of their head. Present day, most roaches have evolved into separate headdresses. They are made from turkey beard hair, porcupine guard hair and deer-tail hair. Depending on where a tribe is from can determine what their headdress will look like. Typically, central and southern plains style their roaches with the front hairs standing straight up with only a gradual outward flare and are usually smaller in size. The northern plains style hair roach headdress typically have the hairs in front form horizontally outward and tend to be larger in size. Often, men would add bits of animal hair to the headdresses. Roach Spreader, early 19th century, 50

External links

Brief history of the roachPorky Roach construction

Reference List

{{reflist Native American clothing First Nations culture Bonnets (headgear) Headgear