Slate: BIA ordered hair cuts for Indian men with 1902 memo

Commissioner of Indian Affairs William Atkinson Jones sent this letter to superintendents of all federal reservations and agencies in January 1902. The notorious missive soon became known as the “haircut order.”

Jones observed that many Native Americans continued to wear their hair long, to “paint,” and to participate in tribal dances. The commissioner objected to these traditions on a number of grounds, arguing that dancing and feasting were “simply subterfuges to cover degrading acts and to disguise immoral purposes,” that painting caused people to go blind, and that long hair simply was not “in keeping with the advancement they are making … in civilization.”

Jones suggested that superintendents could induce compliance by holding back rations and required a report on the progress of these efforts by June 30, 1902.