Almost all tribes at one time had warrior societies. In those societies, the men who belonged to them wore specifically related clothing items. Those items were only allowed to be worn when the men were dealing with warrior society meetings, dances, and rituals. As time progressed, certain items of clothing lost its religious connections to the warrior societies, and everyone in the tribe started to wear them. One such item that has grown through cultural changes is the hair roach. Worn by many men on the powwow circuit, the hair roach is not just worn by members of warrior societies any longer. It is now a pan-Indian clothing item that is worn by hundreds of men in the contemporary prairie powwow culture.

Early Warriors Used the Roaches for War

The hair roach has origins in the Eastern Woodland tribes hundreds of years ago during pre-European contact. The first roaches were small, approximately the span of a hand, and round in shape. These were attached to the warriors head by the braid of their scalp lock. A scalp lock was a circular patch of long hair at the crown of the warriors head, which was usually braided. The rest of the hair was shaved or plucked out. The early roaches were made from many different types of animal fur (deer, wolf, porcupine, turkey beards), depending on the want and honors earned by the warrior. If earned, a socket made of bone would be added to the roach, where a plume would be tied on to decorate in times of war. As tribes began to barter with each other, the way of the roach spread from the East to the Plains areas tribes, with only the warriors allowed to be adorned in the roaches.

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