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You are here: Home / History / What is Head Flattening and How did Northwest Native Americans flatten a baby’s skull?

What is Head Flattening and How did Northwest Native Americans flatten a baby’s skull?

March 24, 2020 by Karen Hill

Among many Northwest Native Americans, the most attractive feature a person could have was a sloped forehead.

To ensure their children would be beautiful, they strapped their babies into a bed called a cradle board that had a piece of wood hinged to the top. The wood applied a gentle pressure to a baby’s soft skull.

After about a year in a cradle board, the front of a baby’s skull flattened into the shape the Indians’ admired. Although disturbing to the non-Native Americans who visited the tribe, the process, known as head-flattening, was painless and had no effect on a baby’s intelligence.

The Coast Salish bred special small woolly dogs. Each spring, they shaved the dogs’ hair, spun it into yarn, and used it to weave warm woolly blankets.

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Filed Under: History

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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