The mohawk (also referred to as a mohican in British English) is a hairstyle in which, in the most common variety, both sides of the head are shaven, leaving a strip of noticeably longer hair in the center.
[citation needed] The Mohawk and the rest of the Iroquois confederacy (Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Tuscarora, and Oneida) in fact wore a square of hair on the back of the crown of the head.
For instance, the Clonycavan Man, a 2000-year-old male bog body discovered near Dublin, Ireland, in 2003, was found to be wearing a mohawk styled with plant oil and pine resin.
"[7] Among the Pawnee people, who historically lived in present-day Nebraska and in northern Kansas, a "mohawk" hairstyle was common.
Although a mohawk is most widely defined as a narrow, central strip of upright hair running from the forehead to the nape, with the sides of the head bald,[15][16] the term can be applied more loosely to various similar hairstyles, many of which have informal names.