Mohawk hairstyle
A hairstyle with a narrow strip of longer hair running from the forehead to the nape, while the sides are shaved or cut very short.
Haircut: A hairstyle created by cutting or shaping the hair. The Mohawk is defined by a deliberate contrast between its central length and shortened sides.
Mohawk people: An Indigenous people of North America, one of the Haudenosaunee nations. The hairstyle’s English name invokes the Mohawk people, though the cut is not their exclusive historical style.
Punk fashion: Clothing and personal styling associated with punk music and its anti-establishment identity. The Mohawk became one of punk fashion’s most recognizable hair statements.
Cultural appropriation: The adoption of cultural elements by people outside the culture, especially amid unequal power relations. Debates arise when the hairstyle’s name or imagery is treated as detached from Indigenous history.
Head shaving: The removal of scalp hair with a razor or other close-cutting tool. Shaved sides produce the sharpest version of the Mohawk’s defining contrast.
Haudenosaunee: A confederacy of Indigenous nations historically known in English as the Iroquois Confederacy. The Mohawk are one nation within this confederacy, whose history is often entangled with the hairstyle’s naming.
Fashion: A system of changing styles in clothing, appearance, and personal adornment. The hairstyle has moved between subcultural expression and mainstream fashion.
Subcultural identity: A shared sense of belonging expressed through a group’s distinctive practices and symbols. The Mohawk can mark affiliation with punk or other alternative scenes.
Hair styling: The shaping and arrangement of hair using tools, products, or techniques. Products and shaping methods determine whether the central strip stands upright or lies flat.
Punk subculture: A youth culture associated with punk music, anti-establishment expression, and distinctive styles. Punk communities made the dramatic Mohawk a widely recognized sign of defiance.