Life is made up of stories; so many stories in fact that we have no way of ever knowing them all. They are a jumbled mess of time and space, yet a bit tangled all together to form the spiderweb of our universe. Even with so many differences, the thing about life's stories is, often times the plots overlap. You'll share so many experiences with the person next to you, and never know it. We all have intermingled feelings of triumph, self-doubt, and so much more that we fail to realize until life places you in the right place at the right time.
There is magic in communing amongst people who know your plight...your pain. Being in the thick of people and their stories oh so similar to yours is a relief that can not be described. A good word for the day, and all of the stories shared is bittersweet. We revel in a moment of freedom with our hair, while sharing the pain indirectly caused by it through our stories of growth and self acceptance. You see...these shoots have provided a safe space for so many magnificent Southeastern Indigenous women...and now men and children. When we are amongst each other there is no shame for our outward appearance. There is no pressure to feel as though straightening your hair would solidify your place within your community. Even when we live in a world where long, straight, black hair makes you more desirable, more accepted; we have found our own pocket of peace. If our little selves could see where we are now, after the years of name calling and shame I'd like to think they're jumping up and down cheering us on. Their little smiles would be radiating that happiness that only comes with the feeling of "finally", an inner peace that wants to burst from your chest like a ray of light,, ,bright as the sun. This time you get to know their personal journeys, and to put a face with their anecdote. We present you with these tales of self-acceptance, growth, and joy.
Hollie-
“Note to self….
You are beautiful and strong and nothing about who others say you are can ever change that. Too often we allow “the norm” to dictate what we see as beautiful in the mirror.
Growing up my curls were not appreciated by everyone, so I decided that I was more beautiful when my hair was straight.
But In 2006 I heard a song by India.Arie, and immediately began to cry because I could relate to the lyrics on a personal level.
“I am not my hair, I am not this skin
I am not your expectations, no
I am not my hair, I am not this skin
I am the soul that lives within”
I clearly remember at that moment thinking, when I have children their hair will not be a source of identification and whether curly or straight I will ensure that they love every part of who they are.
Now I have two curly haired little girls and part of the culture in our home is….”Curls are BEAUTIFUL” so love them and love you!
Hollie - A curly girl raising curly girls”
"Dear Little Mariah,
I know you don't believe it, but there is nothing wrong with your hair. It's okay that you feel pretty with straight hair, but one day you are gonna feel BEAUTIFUL with your curly hair. When you are older you'll learn how your hair does not distance you from Indian-ness, but brings you closer to your people. This is how God made you. There are no mistakes, baby.
Most sincerely,
Grown-up Mariah "
Noelani-
“ About two years ago I decided to explore the curly side of my hair. I completely stopped flat ironing my hair and started letting my natural hair shine. It was not easy at all primarily because flat ironing my hair a my life took a toll on my hair so it took a very long time for my hair to look healthy. Secondly because curly hair was not seen as acceptable in my community. Most people thought it was just messy and unkept if you didn’t flat iron your hair. So it took me a while to accept that my hair was not messy simply because it was curly. It was really hard for me to go to church and nice events where I had to dress up and not flat iron my hair because it felt like people looked at it like it was a mess. After about two years my curls are finally flourishing and although I still have trouble with my hair at times I’m really glad I embraced my natural hair and I even try to get my friends to do the same. Some of them have started wearing their hair natural more since I’ve encouraged them to do so. What I’ve learned From this is that we all have unique hair and we should never try to hide what God gave us.”
Krystin-
“Being an indigenous woman with curly hair is definitely not for the weak! I can vividly remember growing up being called “bushy head” or even “mop head” by family members or kids at school. These voices accompanied by the stereotypical idea of what a native woman should look like have rang in my head so loudly throughout my entire life causing me to at times feel less Native and definitely not pretty.
I’ve recently come to realize that God purposely created me to have curly hair. He placed each ringlet in my hair with purpose. Maybe that purpose was to teach me patience, because well if you have curly hair you know it does exactly what it wants to. Regardless of what that purpose was, I’ve learned that my curly hair is beautiful because the same God that made me in His image, formed each and every curl in my hair.
Too often indigenous women feel the need to straighten their curls because society has told them that in order to be native they must have straight hair. Too often indigenous women have had to succumb to the voices of everyone surrounding them instead of listening to their own. Today I am an indigenous woman embracing each and every curl in my hair.”
Kaloni-
"Growing up straightening and and treating my hair was the easiest solution. Starting my natural journey a year ago made me realize hair my hair does not define who I am as a person and I grew so much from that. A year later and I had the honor of being apart of this amazing project with all my fellow curly queens."
Jasmine-
“ Throughout my life I had very poofy, thin hair. It has always been stringy & fine & I have really always disliked it. I remember when I was younger, I would take a trip with my Mama & sister to the hair salon to get my hair done every 6 weeks & every Saturday, no matter what my Mama would do my hair for church on Sunday. As I got older, I started wearing my hair curly (or what I thought was curly) with lots of mouse & gel & so much hairspray that my hair could’ve probably scraped you. Even though I would wear my hair curly here & there I would literally wear it curly on rainy days or days when I didn’t care if it got messed up. Basically on my “i don’t care days” at school (we’ve all had those). It wasn’t until a few years ago when I truly started learning about what curly products were & which ones would work for my hair. Like I said earlier, I’ve always had fine, stringy, thin hair & when I first started really doing my hair curly, I was upset because my curls didn’t look like everyone else’s. It wasn’t until 2020 that I truly started embracing MY curls for exactly what they were: MINE! Throughout my life, I have noticed that no matter if there was a powwow, conference, banquet, job interview, etc I would always straighten my hair & I have recently realized that in doing so, I am not doing my part in breaking these stigmas that curly haired people receive. Our curls are just as beautiful as our straight hair. We are just as beautiful with our curly hair as we are with our straight hair & I hope that doing photo shoots as the one we did helps shed a positive light on curly hair ESPECIALLY INDIGENOUS CURLY HAIR.”
Summer Raine -
"My hair was a struggle for me growing up. Mama would take us to get it done every 6 weeks and she’d blow dry it and flat iron it every Saturday night for church on Sunday. But no matter what, a day or two later it was always a frizzy, poofy mess. I didn’t know how to do it and, though she had naturally curly hair too, she didn’t either. As I got older, it became something that I was insecure about so I just didn’t really try unless I was going to a special event. Then, I got to college. I remember straightening my hair almost daily but it was too much. It wasn’t sustainable and I just knew there had to be a better way. Around the same time I saw more and more people wearing their hair naturally and products were more readily available. I knew my hair was curly but the few times I’d worn it that way when I was younger it was crunchy, greasy, and had to be redone daily because of the types of products that I knew about then. I started doing research, buying and trying products, and eventually as I got used to my natural hair I also became more confident in who I was. I remember many times over the years specifically straightening my hair before conferences, trips, powwows, and pageants so that I would “look more native” but Native isn’t a look. I am Native because of my family, culture, and traditions and the way my hair grows naturally out of my head has no bearing on that fact. It took me way to long to realize that and I hope by doing these pictures and sharing our stories we inspire other people, old and young, Native and non-Native to love the hair God gave them and wear it the way they want to and not the way society or anyone else has told them is best."
Symone-
"I am so grateful to have been invited to do this shoot with my fellow indigenous curly queens. It was a time to embrace my curls without any judgement. I get to show my daughter it's okay to be be an Indigenous girl with fluffy, tight, curly hair. I get to teach her not to be ashamed of it, yet to embrace every curl on her head for how beautiful it truly is."
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