Various Names For "Bantu Knot Hairstyles" In The Caribbean & In Africa

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series about the (mostly) female hairstyle which is now known as "Bantu knots" in the United States.

Part II provides general information about the hairstyle known as "Bantu knots", including some information about the word "Bantu" and Bantu languages/people as well as a general description of Bantu knot hairstyles.

Part II also showcases a 2017 tutorial video about Bantu knots and includes selected comments from that video's discussion thread. Most of those comments provide names for the "Bantu knots" hairstyle in the Caribbean, and in parts of Africa. Some of those comments and additional comments document how negative attitudes about this hairstyle as well as who wears it, when, and where have changed since the early 2000s.

Some comments about the various names for this hairstyle from the video embedded in Part I of this series are also included in that post.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/11/how-black-attitudes-about-wearing-bantu.html for Part I of this series. That post also provides a general introduction to the hairstyle known as "Bantu knots", including some information about the word "Bantu" and Bantu languages/people as well as a general description of Bantu knot hairstyles.

That post provides general information about the hairstyle known as "Bantu knots", including some information about the word "Bantu" and Bantu languages/people as well as a general description of Bantu knot hairstyles. Part I also showcases a 2015 video entitled "Wearable Threaded Bantu Knots | Protective Natural Hairstyle".

Selected comments from that video's discussion thread are included in this post. These comments are part of a somewhat contentious discussion between Caribbean, African, and African American Black women about how attitudes about wearing "Bantu knots" and other natural hairstyles have changed because it is now considered "trendy".

The content of this post is presented for cultural and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this embedded YouTube video.
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Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-bantu-knots-hairstyle-throughout.html http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-bantu-knots-hairstyle-throughout.html for Part I of a two part pancocojams series on that subject. That post includes comments that aren't included in this 2019 post. The link for Part II is included in that post. Part II showcases two African music videos that include women with Bantu knots & several African American tutorial videos about Bantu knots.

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GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT "BANTU KNOTS" HAIRSTYLE
"Bantu knots" is a late 20th century or early 21st century American (United States) name for certain traditional African female hairstyles that had/has various names.

A 1898 photograph of a woman from Madagascar is the earliest documented photograph of the hairstyle that is now called "Bantu knots" (in the United States). Click https://www.ebony.com/style/everything-you-need-know-about-bantu-knots/ to view that photograph and read more about "Bantu knots".

Here's a general description of this hairstyle from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-textured_hair#Styling
..."bantu knots"... involves sectioning the hair with square or triangular parts and fastening it into tight buns or knots on the head. Bantu knots can be made from either loose natural hair or dreadlocks." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-textured_hair#Styling

Here's another general description about this hairstyle from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bantu-knots-mini-buns-difference_n_7452532##targetText=Bantu%20knots%20are%20said%20to,until%20they%20form%20mini%20knots. These Are Bantu Knots, Not 'Mini Buns.' There's A Difference.
By Dana Oliver, 05/28/2015 | Updated December 7, 2017
...."Bantu knots are said to have originated centuries ago with the Zulu tribes in southern Africa. They're styled by sectioning the hair into parts all over the head, then twisting those individual sections until they form mini knots."

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE WORD "BANTU"
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantu_languages
"The term "Bantu" ... was coined (as Bâ-ntu) by Wilhelm Bleek in 1857 or 1858... to represent the word for "people" ... from the plural noun class prefix *ba- categorizing "people", and the root *ntʊ̀ - "some (entity), any" (e.g. Zulu umuntu "person", abantu "people")...

The total number of Bantu speakers is in the hundreds of millions, estimated around 350 million in the mid-2010s (roughly 30% of the total population of Africa, or roughly 5% of world population).[3] Bantu languages are largely spoken east and south of Cameroon, throughout Central Africa, Southeast Africa and Southern Africa. About one sixth of the Bantu speakers, and about one third of Bantu languages, are found in the Democratic Republic of Congo alone.

[...]

The Bantu language with the largest total number of speakers is Swahili; however, the majority of its speakers use it as a second language (L1: c. 16 million, L2: 80 million, as of 2015).[4]

Other major Bantu languages include Zulu, with 27 million speakers (15.7 million L2), and Shona, with about 11 million speakers."...

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: How To | Perfect Bantu Knots on Natural Hair & Transitioning Hair



Bella Mecia, Jun 18, 2017

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THE DISCUSSION THREAD FOR THIS EMBEDDED VIDEO
Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

Note that this post includes comments from two people who self-identified as being from the South American nations of Suriname and Belize. These nations are frequently categorized as Caribbean nations because of their shared cultures.

2017
1. Jorgiiee Hewitt
"Samee I'm Jamaican and I've only ever called them Chiney bumps. My whole family calls them that and we are all Jamaican. I never knew what people were talking about when they said bantu knots?!?! 😂😂🌴🌴🌴"

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2. Chenai David
"As soon as you said chiney bumps I knew you were Caribbean! I think it's called that because the hair style is similar to Buddha's hair"

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3. Kedine Peart
"I remember hating when my hair was in chiney bumps when i was little cause used to tease me. But now I love it so much"

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4. Liz Austin
"we called them "motyo kumbas" in my sweet country of Suriname"

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5. Ashley Morris
"In Barbados we call them cork screw. I wore my hair like this as a child."

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6. D N
"i am from barbados and we call them corkscrews use to do them when we finish washing our hair and dont want to blow dry or for a twistcurl or wear it as is"

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REPLY
7. Bella Mecia
"Same here girl..lol Almost every Sunday my mom would wash my hair and do this style right after but I would always try to unravel it because I thought the curls looked better. Not to mention I always got stares like I was an alien because this style wasn't well known then. She would be so happy to know that I kept it in and rocked it as is..lol"

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REPLY
8. K Rob
"My grandmother also called them corkscrews. That's what she did with our hair every Sunday morning after she washed it. We were so embarrassed to be seen like that. We'd hide if any visitor showed up and we had corkscrews or there would be tears if one of us was asked to go on an errand to the corner shop then. My grandmother's parents, my great grandparents were from Barbados."

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9. Briana Johnson
"We call them knockers in New Orleans. My mom used to do mine like this when I was a kid. Yours came out PERFECTLY 😍"

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10. Kyea Phipps
"in stkitts (that's in the Caribbean) we call them pig titi"

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2018
11. Makhosazana Khumalo
"They are called Bantu knots because long back in are culture the Nguni or the Zulu tribe..women with high status in the community used to wear it or do it...just like that long gold necklace u see pple wearing these days..it was a sign of wealth and status ."

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12. Shalana Thomas
"We used to call them pepper seed in Trinidad =))"

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13. Beyonce Antoine
"From the Caribbean but we call them pepper seeds in St.Lucia."

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REPLY
14. Chezanne Griffith, 2019
"We call them pepper seed too in Guyana"

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15. Chante Toby
"In St. Vincent we call them cork screw"

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16. Y_ me_
"Bantu knots = Kaka Cabrit☺ in creole"

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REPLY
17. Bella Mecia
"Love that name just as much as I love Haiti!🤗😘"

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18. Erica Xo
"We just call them moñitos in the Dominican Republic 💀 I remember crying when my mom forced me to go to school with them"

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19. Lecira T
"In Nigeria, we say Periwinkle or Bantu knots"

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20. Arlene Newell
"My Jaimaican parents called them Chiney Bumps too. Reason? Look at Budda's head, lots of bumps on it. Since Jaimaicans associate Chinese people with worshiping budda.. called this Chiney Bumps...we never wore this in public though..just to bed and around the house...times have changed."

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21. DESEREY '
"Bantu knots or either Nubian knot"

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22. Jiseal Mendez
"I'm from the Cayman Islands, we call them chiney bump"

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23. alexis keys
"I grew up in Philadelphia and they were called "corkscrews". Lol"

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REPLY
24. Gail Scott, 2019
"Are you relatives from the Caribbean? Namely, Barbados."

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25. Angie Palacio
"Love it! Trying tonight.. yesss omg. From di caribbean we know dem as chiney bumps toooo. #Belize"

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2019
26. Layla I
"We always used to call it koos koos (I'm somali btw)"

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27. LiyahsWorld
"In Puerto Rico we call them monyos I didn’t really know what Bantu knots were until I seen them, everyone in my family calls them monyos. We normally wear them after washing our hair"

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28. lovely littlegirl
"I think we call this periwinkle in Nigeria. Any Nigerians here? What's the name of this style again😂?"

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29. Curlee
"Chiney bumps!!where all my caribbean naturals at??😘😘❤❤"

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30. and I'm Kanye West
"We call them Twissy Bobby in Antigua lol"

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31. Ayanda Maseko
"Amagodo in isizulu"
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Google translate from Zulu to English "amagodo" - the logs

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OTHER COMMENTS ABOUT THE NAME FOR "BANTU KNOTS" IN VARIOUS NATIONS
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoFPhmZ4-Ic
1. Bleepblopchu, 2015
"+created2worshipGOD Bajans call the Corkscrews! Seems depending on the area, we all have a name for the same style! :D "
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"Bajans" = people from Barbados

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2. Mimi N, 2015
"Shout out to all the Nigerian chicks who grew up wearing the "ko-oso" hairstyle! #Nigeriawehailthee"

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3. created2worshipGOD, 2015
"Nice. Jamaicans call these Chiney Bumps. My mom would do these after washing my hair. They were never worn outside. I still can't get myself to wear them out.


I really liked when you did the front and left the rest out best though"

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4. MsGlobegirl, 2015
"Whitney, you would have automatically gotten your Jamaican card back if you had referred to bantu knots as chiney bump."

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REPLY
5. deb needsleep, 2016
"+La Jessicana The 'Chiney' part of the term refers to how tight the wrapping sometimes was, that it made you look Chinese. (pulling on the skin around the eyes and temple)"

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From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ7psK7_KWU(Bantu Knot Out - Pleasant Surprise)

1. somaliangle, 2010
"@MrKaerf Dhudhub just means to twist! its a quick way of maintaining your hair, most girls do it before bed time so that the hair does not get in to knots and stuff. you just undo it in the mornin and comb."

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2. hibothebibo, 2010
"LOL! My mom is always telling me to duuduub my hair and it really does look good. Somali moms know best!"

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3. ruthrachel18, 2010
"I also have many heritages, touching every continent, reflected in my very thick (!!!) soft, curly hair...Somali and Ethiopian classmates of mine taught me how to duuduub my hair when I was in college, and it works wonderfully, just as it did for you!!! Thank you for sharing"

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4. Amina Zainab, 2010
"nigerians call it do do too lol i think it's an African thing"
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Note these comments are also found in the Part I of 2014 Pancocojams series about "Bantu knots" whose link is given above.

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This concludes Part II of this two part pancocojams series on Bantu knots.

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