Cranial Distortion amongst Native Americans Tribes
Many of the Native American tribes carried out cranial deformation or modification, head flattening, or head binding is a form of body alteration in which the skull of a human being is deformed intentionally. It is done by distorting the normal growth of a child's skull by applying force. Flat shapes, elongated ones (produced by binding between two pieces of wood), rounded ones (binding in cloth), and conical ones are among those chosen or valued in various cultures.
We take a look at this complex ritual and listen to James G Swan, who in 1858, travelled to Willapa Bay to study the indigenous cultures.
Please sit back and enjoy this episode of wildwestfaces.