The Kilt, the Gho, and the Mohawk: Creating Cultural Identity

The Kilt, the Gho and the Mohawk are all cultural touchstones to certain cultures, and interestingly all of them are artificial cultural constructs. The Mohawk is not the traditional hairstyle of the Mohawk peoples, but of the Pawnee. The Gho is the national garb of Bhutan, introduced by the government in a deliberate move to create a national style of dress. The Kilt as we know it today is the invention of an Englishman, and was a radical departure from the traditional Scottish article of clothing known today as the great kilt.

All of the these cultural items are artificial, some borrowed, some invented, some imported- but all have been embraced by the cultures and are now used to enforce strong cultural identity.

The Gho can trace its roots back the to unification of Bhutan as a nation in the 17^th century when a national dress was recommended by the Tibetan Lama Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyei in his proclamation the Driglam Namzha. The Gho as a required form of dress was formally instituted by the government 1989 to help foster national unity.

The Kilt was originally a larger outfit from the 16^th century called the Great Kilt that had a cloak portion that could be worn over the shoulder as a cloak or a hood. English Quaker Thomas Rawlinson invented the modern kilt in the 1720s and introduced it to Scottish workers who found the great kilt awkward for working in.

The Mohawk, as the hairstyle is currently thought of,  was worn by the Omaha and the Pawnee rather than the Mohawk and the rest of the Iroquios Confederacy who wore a hairstyle which consisted of square of hair on the back of the crown of the head.

Nonetheless, all of these items have become cultural touchstones and icons of that culture. One adopted from neighboring people. One modified by a foreigner. One instituted the government on the people. And yet all of these have proven to have a powerful unifying effect on the culture. The French were appalled by the Eiffel Tower when it was first completed. Now the tower is a beloved national symbol.

Cultural landmarks and touchstones and ideas are critical to the identity of a culture and it doesn’t matter if the cultural point is borrowed, stolen, instituted, or enforced. However they are acquired, the cultural touchstones must be enforced and encouraged and enhanced.

This is how people become 'a people'.

They say, "We do this, different from other peoples, we do this. And this thing we do, these things we do, makes us who we are."