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“This headgear is apparently called ‘roach’ in English because of it’s resemblance to the roaching or clipping of a horse’s mane which was considered stylish in the 19th century. The roach headdress of animal hair almost certainly originated in the custom, formerly observed by some Indian men, of cutting all the hair from the head except for a narrow strip running from the crown to the base of the neck.”
(Howard, 1958, p. 89)
White Horse - Pawnee - 1868
Animal hair such as turkey beard hair, porcupine guard hair, and deer-tail hair were added to the hair to add to the effect. Some authorities attribute the hair roach headdress to the Pawnee as a result of the legend of their culture hero Crow Feather. Other authorities attribute the hair roach to tribal traditions involving the resemblence of the red crest of the Pileated Woodpecker.
Today the hair roach has evolved to become a seperate headdress, and is either made from turkey beard hair, in which case the length of the base is usually a smaller size, perhaps 8 to 12 inches, or porcupine guard hair which can have a base from 12 to 20 inches or more. In both cases, deer-tail hair is added inside and out. There was a time that the deer-tail hair was dyed red to indicated that the wearer had been “tested by fire” or in other words the dancer was a warrior or veteran who had been in combat, and if the deer-tail hair was left natural or white the dancer had not been in combat.
However, these meanings are no longer strictly followed or remembered and the deer-tail hair is frequently dyed any color according to the dancer’s preference.
In general, the central and southern plains style of hair roach headdress will have the front hairs standing erect with only a gradual outward flare and are usually smaller in size, whereas in contrast, the northern plains style hair roach headdress will frequently have the front hairs flaring outward at an almost horizontal angle and tend to be larger in size.
Some examples from the past:
Buffalo Bull - Pawnee - 1832
Brave Chief - Pawnee - 1832
Big Elk - Omaha - 1832
The Watchful Fox - Sauk - 1832
The Blistered Feet - Iowa - 1844
The Walking Bear - Sauk - 1844
The White Cloud - Iowa - 1845
Un-identified man and Wah-ti-an-kah – Osage - 1865
Sun Chief, A Fine Horse, Lone Chief, Struck By A Tomahawk, One Aimed At - Pawnee - 1868
Wah-Com-Mo - Sauk & Fox - 1868
Yellow Horse – Arapaho – 1872
Big Mouth Hawk – Arapaho – 1872
Osage man - 1875
White Swan - Omaha - 1883
Running Fox - Omaha - circa 1884
Big Black Bear - Otoe - 1884
Cannot Do It - Sauk & Fox - 1890
Comanche man – 1891
Inali - Kiowa - 1892
Henry Red Eagle and son - Osage - 1893
Osage men - no date
Osage men - no date
Osage man - no date
Bushy Tail - Otoe - 1894
Iron Man Coming - Otoe - 1895
Frank Corndropper and Paul Buffalo - Osage - 1895
Frank Corndropper, Paul Buffalo, and Pierce St. John - Osage - 1895
Willie Gray Eyes - Sauk & Fox - 1896
William Faw Faw - Otoe - no date
Medicine Horse – Iowa – no date
Ponca men - no date
William Gray Eyes - Sauk & Fox - 1898
Kiowa man - 1898
Kau-Lay-Ty - Kiowa - 1898
Kiowa man - 1898
Jim Two Hatchet - Kiowa - 1898
Comanche man – 1898
Raises The Dust - Ponca - 1898
Dust Maker (aka Pete Mitchell) - Ponca - 1898
Dust Maker (aka Pete Mitchell) - Ponca - 1898
Moni-Chaki (aka Thomas Cry) - Ponca - 1898
Big Fox – Arapaho – 1898
Starving Elk - Southern Cheyenne - 1898
Omaha man - 1898
Group of Omaha - 1898
Gray Horn - Omaha - 1898
Charley Mitchell - Omaha - 1898
Henry Springer - Omaha - 1898
Smoked Yellow - Omaha - 1898
Mo-She-Wa-Ku-De - Omaha - 1898
Howard Frost - Omaha - 1898
Pawnee men - no date
Jessee Kirk, Joseph Springer – Iowa – 1901
George Michelle - Osage - 1905
Brother of John Pipestem with wife - Otoe - 1906
Favored Chief - Omaha - 1909
George Michelle - Osage - 1910
John Wood - Osage - 1910
Osage men - 1912
Anacona, George.
1993. Powwow. Harcourt Brace, San Diego, CA.
Ashworth, Kenneth Albert.
1986. The Contemporary Oklahoma Pow-wow. Ph.D. dissertation. Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma.
Axtmann, Ann.
1999. Dance: Celebration and Resistance, Native American Indian Intertribal Powwow Performance. Ph.D. dissertation. New York University, NY.
Burton, Bryan.
1993. Moving Within the Circle: Contemporary Native American Music and Dance. World Music Press, Danbury, CT.
Callahan, Alice A.
1990. The Osage Ceremonial Dance, I’n-Lon-Schka. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.
Catlin, George
1841. Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs and Traditions of North American Indians. 2 Volumes, Tosswill & Myers, London, England. (Reprinted as Letters and Notes on the North American Indian. Ross and Haynes, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, 1965)
Dorsey, George Amos
1904-a. Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee. Memoirs, American Folk-lore Society, Vol. 8.
1904-b. Traditions of the Osage. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL.
Duncan, Jim.
1997. Hethushka Zani: An Ethnohistory of the War Dance Complex. MA thesis. Department of Anthropology, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, OK.
Ellis, Clyde
2003. A Dancing People: Powwow Culture on the Southern Plains. University of Kansas Press, Lawrence, KS.
Feder, Norman.
1957-a. Costume of the Oklahoma Straight Dancer. The American Indian Hobbyist Newsletter, Vol. 4, No. 1.
1957-b. Costume of the Oklahoma Straight Dancer. The American Indian Hobbyist Newsletter, Vol. 4, No. 2.
Fleming, Paula Richardson.
2003. Native American Photography at the Smithsonian: The Shindler Catalogue. Smithsonian Books, Washington, D.C.
Fletcher, Alice C.
1892. Hae-thu-ska Society of the Omaha Tribe. Journal of American Folk-lore, Vol. 5, No. 17.
Fletcher, Alice C. and Francis LaFlesche.
1911. The Omaha Tribe. Bureau of American Ethnology, 27th Annual Report 1905-06, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Grinnell, George Bird
1961. Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk Tales. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE.
Heth, Charlotte, ed.
1992. Native American Dance: Ceremonies and Social Traditions. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
Howard, Dr. James H.
1955. The Pan-Indian Culture in Oklahoma. The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 81, No. 5.
1958. The Roach Headdress. American Indian Tradition Newsletter, Vol. 5.
1965. The Ponca Tribe. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 195, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
1976. Ceremonial Dress of the Delaware Man. Special Issue, The Bulletin of the Archeological Society of New Jersey, No. 33, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ.
1983. Pan-Indianism in Native American Music and Dance. Ethnomusicology, Vol. 28, No. 1.
Howard, Dr. James H. and Gertrude P. Kurath.
1959. Ponca Dances, Ceremonies and Music. Ethnomusicology, Vol. 7.
Johnson, Tim. Ed.
1998. Spirit Capture: Photographs from the National Museum of the American Indian. Smithsonian Books, Washington, D.C.
Kavanagh, Thomas W.
1992. Southern Plains Dance Tradition and Dynamics: Native American Dance Ceremonies and Social Traditions. National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution with Starwood, Washington D.C.
Kinietz, Vernon.
1940. Notes on the Roached Headdress of Animal Hair Among the North American Indians. Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters, Vol. 26.
LaFave, Edward J.
1998. Straight Dance Clothing: How to Dress a Straight Dancer. Whispering Wind: American Indian Past & Present Magazine, Vol. 29, No. 4, Folsom, LA.
Sebbelov, Gerda.
1911. The Osage War Dance. The Museum Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3.
Smith, Jerry.
1982. Straight Dance Clothes: Getting Them On. Moccasin Tracks Magazine, April Issue, LaPalma, CA.
Stewart, Tyronne H.
1968. Dressing a Straight Dancer. The Singing Wire Newsletter, February Issue.
(Howard, 1958, p. 89)
White Horse - Pawnee - 1868
Animal hair such as turkey beard hair, porcupine guard hair, and deer-tail hair were added to the hair to add to the effect. Some authorities attribute the hair roach headdress to the Pawnee as a result of the legend of their culture hero Crow Feather. Other authorities attribute the hair roach to tribal traditions involving the resemblence of the red crest of the Pileated Woodpecker.
Today the hair roach has evolved to become a seperate headdress, and is either made from turkey beard hair, in which case the length of the base is usually a smaller size, perhaps 8 to 12 inches, or porcupine guard hair which can have a base from 12 to 20 inches or more. In both cases, deer-tail hair is added inside and out. There was a time that the deer-tail hair was dyed red to indicated that the wearer had been “tested by fire” or in other words the dancer was a warrior or veteran who had been in combat, and if the deer-tail hair was left natural or white the dancer had not been in combat.
However, these meanings are no longer strictly followed or remembered and the deer-tail hair is frequently dyed any color according to the dancer’s preference.
In general, the central and southern plains style of hair roach headdress will have the front hairs standing erect with only a gradual outward flare and are usually smaller in size, whereas in contrast, the northern plains style hair roach headdress will frequently have the front hairs flaring outward at an almost horizontal angle and tend to be larger in size.
Some examples from the past:
Buffalo Bull - Pawnee - 1832
Brave Chief - Pawnee - 1832
Big Elk - Omaha - 1832
The Watchful Fox - Sauk - 1832
The Blistered Feet - Iowa - 1844
The Walking Bear - Sauk - 1844
The White Cloud - Iowa - 1845
Un-identified man and Wah-ti-an-kah – Osage - 1865
Sun Chief, A Fine Horse, Lone Chief, Struck By A Tomahawk, One Aimed At - Pawnee - 1868
Wah-Com-Mo - Sauk & Fox - 1868
Yellow Horse – Arapaho – 1872
Big Mouth Hawk – Arapaho – 1872
Osage man - 1875
White Swan - Omaha - 1883
Running Fox - Omaha - circa 1884
Big Black Bear - Otoe - 1884
Cannot Do It - Sauk & Fox - 1890
Comanche man – 1891
Inali - Kiowa - 1892
Henry Red Eagle and son - Osage - 1893
Osage men - no date
Osage men - no date
Osage man - no date
Bushy Tail - Otoe - 1894
Iron Man Coming - Otoe - 1895
Frank Corndropper and Paul Buffalo - Osage - 1895
Frank Corndropper, Paul Buffalo, and Pierce St. John - Osage - 1895
Willie Gray Eyes - Sauk & Fox - 1896
William Faw Faw - Otoe - no date
Medicine Horse – Iowa – no date
Ponca men - no date
William Gray Eyes - Sauk & Fox - 1898
Kiowa man - 1898
Kau-Lay-Ty - Kiowa - 1898
Kiowa man - 1898
Jim Two Hatchet - Kiowa - 1898
Comanche man – 1898
Raises The Dust - Ponca - 1898
Dust Maker (aka Pete Mitchell) - Ponca - 1898
Dust Maker (aka Pete Mitchell) - Ponca - 1898
Moni-Chaki (aka Thomas Cry) - Ponca - 1898
Big Fox – Arapaho – 1898
Starving Elk - Southern Cheyenne - 1898
Omaha man - 1898
Group of Omaha - 1898
Gray Horn - Omaha - 1898
Charley Mitchell - Omaha - 1898
Henry Springer - Omaha - 1898
Smoked Yellow - Omaha - 1898
Mo-She-Wa-Ku-De - Omaha - 1898
Howard Frost - Omaha - 1898
Pawnee men - no date
Jessee Kirk, Joseph Springer – Iowa – 1901
George Michelle - Osage - 1905
Brother of John Pipestem with wife - Otoe - 1906
Favored Chief - Omaha - 1909
George Michelle - Osage - 1910
John Wood - Osage - 1910
Osage men - 1912
Anacona, George.
1993. Powwow. Harcourt Brace, San Diego, CA.
Ashworth, Kenneth Albert.
1986. The Contemporary Oklahoma Pow-wow. Ph.D. dissertation. Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma.
Axtmann, Ann.
1999. Dance: Celebration and Resistance, Native American Indian Intertribal Powwow Performance. Ph.D. dissertation. New York University, NY.
Burton, Bryan.
1993. Moving Within the Circle: Contemporary Native American Music and Dance. World Music Press, Danbury, CT.
Callahan, Alice A.
1990. The Osage Ceremonial Dance, I’n-Lon-Schka. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.
Catlin, George
1841. Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs and Traditions of North American Indians. 2 Volumes, Tosswill & Myers, London, England. (Reprinted as Letters and Notes on the North American Indian. Ross and Haynes, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, 1965)
Dorsey, George Amos
1904-a. Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee. Memoirs, American Folk-lore Society, Vol. 8.
1904-b. Traditions of the Osage. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL.
Duncan, Jim.
1997. Hethushka Zani: An Ethnohistory of the War Dance Complex. MA thesis. Department of Anthropology, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, OK.
Ellis, Clyde
2003. A Dancing People: Powwow Culture on the Southern Plains. University of Kansas Press, Lawrence, KS.
Feder, Norman.
1957-a. Costume of the Oklahoma Straight Dancer. The American Indian Hobbyist Newsletter, Vol. 4, No. 1.
1957-b. Costume of the Oklahoma Straight Dancer. The American Indian Hobbyist Newsletter, Vol. 4, No. 2.
Fleming, Paula Richardson.
2003. Native American Photography at the Smithsonian: The Shindler Catalogue. Smithsonian Books, Washington, D.C.
Fletcher, Alice C.
1892. Hae-thu-ska Society of the Omaha Tribe. Journal of American Folk-lore, Vol. 5, No. 17.
Fletcher, Alice C. and Francis LaFlesche.
1911. The Omaha Tribe. Bureau of American Ethnology, 27th Annual Report 1905-06, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Grinnell, George Bird
1961. Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk Tales. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE.
Heth, Charlotte, ed.
1992. Native American Dance: Ceremonies and Social Traditions. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
Howard, Dr. James H.
1955. The Pan-Indian Culture in Oklahoma. The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 81, No. 5.
1958. The Roach Headdress. American Indian Tradition Newsletter, Vol. 5.
1965. The Ponca Tribe. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 195, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
1976. Ceremonial Dress of the Delaware Man. Special Issue, The Bulletin of the Archeological Society of New Jersey, No. 33, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ.
1983. Pan-Indianism in Native American Music and Dance. Ethnomusicology, Vol. 28, No. 1.
Howard, Dr. James H. and Gertrude P. Kurath.
1959. Ponca Dances, Ceremonies and Music. Ethnomusicology, Vol. 7.
Johnson, Tim. Ed.
1998. Spirit Capture: Photographs from the National Museum of the American Indian. Smithsonian Books, Washington, D.C.
Kavanagh, Thomas W.
1992. Southern Plains Dance Tradition and Dynamics: Native American Dance Ceremonies and Social Traditions. National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution with Starwood, Washington D.C.
Kinietz, Vernon.
1940. Notes on the Roached Headdress of Animal Hair Among the North American Indians. Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters, Vol. 26.
LaFave, Edward J.
1998. Straight Dance Clothing: How to Dress a Straight Dancer. Whispering Wind: American Indian Past & Present Magazine, Vol. 29, No. 4, Folsom, LA.
Sebbelov, Gerda.
1911. The Osage War Dance. The Museum Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3.
Smith, Jerry.
1982. Straight Dance Clothes: Getting Them On. Moccasin Tracks Magazine, April Issue, LaPalma, CA.
Stewart, Tyronne H.
1968. Dressing a Straight Dancer. The Singing Wire Newsletter, February Issue.
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