Cornrows Hid Maps in Colombia

Why this is here: Women in Colombia used cornrows called “departes”—thick, tight braids tied into buns—to signal their desire to escape slavery.

In Northern Colombia around the 17th century, Benkos Bioho, an escaped king, organized a network where women braided maps into cornrows. Bioho built the village of San Basillio de Palenque and used the hairstyles to deliver messages and indicate escape routes.

Ziomara Asprilla Garcia, an Afro-Colombian hair braider, detailed how specific braid patterns signaled intentions to flee or represented roads. Similar oral histories from Suriname suggest enslaved people hid rice seeds in their hair while escaping plantations.

Snopes investigated claims of this practice occurring among slaves in the United States, finding no tangible evidence. However, folklorist Patricia Turner at UCLA notes the logic of concealing items on the body during searches. Historians also question the prevalence of coded messages in quilts used by the Underground Railroad, suggesting these stories emphasize self-reliance.

Though definitive proof remains elusive, these narratives highlight the ingenuity and resilience of enslaved people. Turner prefers to focus on the power of these stories to amplify the bravery of those seeking freedom, rather than dismissing them outright. The search for verifiable details continues.