History

Archaeological evidence suggests that people were locking their hair before there were towns, alphabets, recreational drug use or taxes. The ancient Egyptians depicted their Pharaohs with tight locks and mummified corpses have been found with locked hair – not just in Egypt but also in South America and Central Asia. In the remote highlands of New Guinea warriors from one particular tribe still wear elaborate ceremonial wigs constructed from locked hair. In India locking the hair is associated with an ancient ascetic practice symbolising an earnest renunciation of wealth, property and material desires. Today many holy men and women in India wear locked hair ( known in that country as Jatta – from the Sanskrit root word for hair ).

So there’s the first myth blown out of the water. Rastafarians weren’t the first to wear locks nor are locks an exclusively African phenomenon. Evidence for the widespread practice of locked hair can be found all around the world. On the other hand, the term Dreadlocks was first coined during the period when the Rastas were opposing the colonial rule of the British in Jamaica. It was a derogatory expression invented by the colonial police as part of a government disinformation campaign designed to taint the freedom fighters in the popular imagination. Locked hair has come to symbolise rebellion and non-conformity. I don’t like the term Dreadlocks. I never have. And come to think of it most of the Rastas I’ve met don’t use it much either. It just doesn’t fit. There’s nothing dread about them – unless you listen to the rumours, myths and tall stories. I refer to my hair as Dream-locks or Jatta. Those terms have a more accurate ring to them in my opinion.

So there’s the first myth blown out of the water. Rastafarians weren’t the first to wear locks nor are locks an exclusively African phenomenon. Evidence for the widespread practice of locked hair can be found all around the world. On the other hand, the term Dreadlocks was first coined during the period when the Rastas were opposing the colonial rule of the British in Jamaica. It was a derogatory expression invented by the colonial police as part of a government disinformation campaign designed to taint the freedom fighters in the popular imagination. Locked hair has come to symbolise rebellion and non-conformity. I don’t like the term Dreadlocks. I never have. And come to think of it most of the Rastas I’ve met don’t use it much either. It just doesn’t fit. There’s nothing dread about them – unless you listen to the rumours, myths and tall stories. I refer to my hair as Dream-locks or Jatta. Those terms have a more accurate ring to them in my opinion.