Stories shared on social media claimed that Black slaves would create maps in cornrows to help others escape slavery in the South. Slaves used cornrows to transfer information and create maps to the north. Since slaves were not allowed to read or write they had to pass information through cornrows.[2] We read a number of accounts, and found no tangible evidence of slaves in the U.S. actually using cornrows to convey messages. But this doesn’t mean that these stories should be disregarded, or that the practice never existed.[2] Indeed, oral history in Colombia tells stories of Black slaves using their hair to convey messages. In the time of slavery in Colombia, hair braiding was used to relay messages, including a hairstyle called "departes" to signal escape and curved braids to represent roads.[2]

In preparation for a journey through the Middle Passage, many African women would even braid rice or other grains into their hair or their children’s hair to ensure that they would have food.[8] In the era of slavery, the enslaved used braids to hide maps and other directional instructions that would lead them to safety. While copyright law may not protect such braided maps, the law does protect sufficiently fixed maps defining them as “a cartographic representation of a geographic area.”[8] The Library’s collection contains maps that depict various routes to freedom.[8]

During Andel’s work during July 2017 in French Guiana, she spoke at length with a woman descendant of the Maroon people named Edith Adjako, who demonstrated the African braided hairstyle that enslaved West African women used to hide and transfer rice seeds from their homeland to the Americas.[3] In an effort to carry rice seeds with them before being held captive on a ship headed for the New World, a rice farmer created a braided hairstyle for herself that successfully transferred these critical seeds.[3] Through this method, enslaved West Africans kept alive the crop that sustained their bodies and their culture in one of the few things they still had autonomy over: their hair.[3]

African hair has a very long tradition and being adaptable, intelligent people, there were Africans in South America who once again drew from that ancient knowledge, supposedly creating road maps or signals to freedom through elaborate cornrow patterns.[1] There’s some speculation that an enslaved African named Benkos Biohó, who formed a maroon community of former enslaved people, used cornrows as a way to relay messages and identify landmarks for freedom; this hasn’t been confirmed by mainstream scholars but is presented as plausible oral history.[1] One local oral historian and hair braider in Colombia named Xiomara Asprilla García explained the history of how hair braiding was used to relay messages in the time of slavery in Colombia.[1]

This Instagram reel repeats the claim that in the 1500s braids were a mode of communication and that, in Colombia, Benkos Biohó had women create maps and deliver messages through their cornrows to help people escape.

During slavery in the Americas, African women used their braided hairstyles to create maps, marking roads, escape routes, trails, large trees, forests, rivers, and mountains. Cornrows served as maps because the escape routes were too complex to fully memorize.[6] The number of braids could show how many roads needed to be traveled or indicate a specific escape route. These hairstyles became coded guides that helped enslaved people find their way to freedom.[6] This is a myth that starting circulating a few short years ago. Precious thought, but not an historical fact.[6]

By weaving specific patterns into their hair, enslaved people could encode information about escape routes, safe houses, and other resources. One of the most ingenious methods was to use their hair as a map.[1] One of the most common hairstyles used for this purpose was cornrows. For example, one common pattern used to map escape routes was the "North Star" pattern, consisting of three cornrows braided in a straight line from the forehead to the nape of the neck, indicating that the escape route led north.[1] Other common patterns included the "river" pattern, the "mountain" pattern, and the "trail" pattern, used to indicate specific routes.[1]

Cornrows helped enslaved Africans put up small acts of rebellion and resistance by not only allowing them to keep their heritage close, but also providing a discreet way to transfer information.[5] Cornrows soon became used as a way for slaves to secretly communicate with one another; slaves would style their cornrows in different patterns as a means of communicating in code written messages.[5] The best documentation of this is said to be in Colombia where Benkos Biohò escaped slavery, built a palenque village, and created an intelligence network, coming up with the idea of having women make ‘maps’ and deliver messages through their cornrows.[5]

An article on Omiren Styles frames cornrows as "a five-thousand-year-old intelligence system, a language, a map, and a form of resistance that crossed the Atlantic and kept entire communities alive." It asserts that Benkos Bioho "developed a system in which women braided messages and maps into their hair, using the geometry of the cornrow to encode directional information." The piece details reported codes: "One style, called departes, had thick, tight braids braided closely to the scalp and tied into buns at the top. It was a signal: the wearer wanted to escape. Another style had curved braids, tightly braided against the head. The curves represented the roads that would be used during the escape." It also claims that academic research in the International Journal of Social Sciences documents cornrows at Elmina Castle as a medium for communicating escape strategies and that Afro-Colombian oral histories in San Basilio de Palenque describe named braiding styles used to encode maps and hide seeds and gold.

Slaves used cornrows to transfer information and create maps to the North. Since slaves were not allowed to read or write they had to pass information through cornrows.[7] One style had curved braids, tightly braided on their heads. The curved braids would represent the roads they would use to escape. Also in their braids they kept gold and hid seeds which helped them survive after they escaped.[7] Cornrows was the best way to not give back any suspicion to the owner. He would never figure out such a hairstyle would mean they would escape or the route they would take.[7]

Did you know Cornrows were used to help enslaved people escape slavery? They used cornrows to create maps to leave plantations.[4] It’s most documented in Colombia where Benkos Bioho, came up with the idea to have women create maps & deliver messages through cornrows. In Colombia, escaped king Benkos Bioho built San Basilio de Palenque in the 17th century. He used cornrows as resistance—women wove maps & messages into their braids, creating a secret network to guide enslaved people to freedom.[4] These braids became secret tools, hiding maps to escape plantations across South America. No one suspected maps in hairstyles, letting enslaved Africans pass messages safely.[4]

In Africa, cornrow braids and other hairstyles of African origin had a strong link with tribal customs, spirituality, culture, and identity.[2] Through the way the cornrows were braided, one could tell the identity, clan, tribe, religion, marital status, social class, age or sex of an individual, so cornrows were a non-verbal means of communication.[2] The article claims that during slavery the cornrow patterns became more complex and that enslaved people used these patterns to send messages including locations to meet and routes of escape, and that cornrows were used to create maps and paths of escape that indicated how many roads people had to walk or which routes to avoid re-capture.[2]

A video from The Africa Channel summarises a popular narrative: "Did you know that the popular hairstyle cornrows were used by slaves in South America as escape maps?" The presenter explains that "during slavery cornrows were used by enslaved Africans as an escape map" and that "many of these routes were laced into the hair of slaves in cornrows that served as maps from South America all the way up North." The story is said to be "most documented in Colombia" with Benkos Bioho creating "an intelligence Network" and "a brilliant idea to help women create maps and deliver messages through their cornrows." The video adds that a hairstyle called "departis" signaled a desire to escape and mentions hiding gold and seeds in braids to aid survival after escape.

In the time of slavery in Colombia, hair braiding was used to relay messages. For example, to signal that they wanted to escape, women would braid a hairstyle called departes, with thick, tight braids closely braided to the scalp and tied into buns on the top.[2] Another style had curved braids, tightly braided on their heads. The curved braids would represent the roads they would use to escape. In the braids, they also kept gold and hid seeds which, in the long run, helped them survive after they escaped.[2] The use of hair to convey messages or hide grains of rice is so prevalent in oral retellings that the lack of documentation feels beside the point.[2]

Did you know black women once used their hair to draw escape maps in Colombia in the 1800s? Enslaved African women forcibly taken to Colombia would communicate with their communities through braided hair, most importantly for planning escapes.[3] For example, a braided hairstyle called "departes" (meaning "depart" in English) signaled that the person wanted to escape. A braid in the shape of a worm represented a river, a Bantu knot represented a mountain, and very thick braids, called "tropas" (troops), indicated soldiers on the route.[3] Inside the braids, sometimes gold or seeds were hidden to ensure they would survive after they escaped. Because of these "escape map" braids, many Africans were able to escape and form resettlements known as palenques, such as San Basilio de Palenque.[3]

Across parts of the African diaspora, including regions of present-day Colombia, stories connected to leaders like Benkos Biohó describe how braided patterns were believed to share messages, mark pathways toward freedom, and preserve knowledge under constant surveillance.[6] The post states that tightly braided, curved patterns, sometimes referred to as “canerows,” are said to have symbolized roads, terrain, and movement, and that braids served a practical purpose because seeds were sometimes hidden within the hair to sustain people and help rebuild communities after escape.[6] It presents this as "research suggests" but does not reference specific scholarly studies.[6]

A TikTok-style explainer reposted on YouTube titled "Here is the ingenious way slaves used cornrows as escape maps" claims: "Did you know that the popular hairstyle cornrows were used by slaves in South America as escape maps?" It narrates that "during slavery cornrows were used by enslaved Africans as an escape map" and that routes "were laced into the hair of slaves in cornrows that served as maps from South America all the way up North." The video identifies Colombia as the setting: Benkos Bioho "created his own language and intelligence Network and came up with a brilliant idea to help women create maps and deliver messages through their cornrows" and notes that "these cornrows were also used to send signals" such as the "departis" style to indicate intent to escape and the practice of hiding gold and seeds in braids.

There has been a trend of posts online claiming that American slaves would use braids or other hair fixing methods to hide plans to escape. A brief internet search reveals numerous blog posts making these claims; however, they fail to present any historical evidence to support them.[5] Many of these blogs hastily assert their points, but I have yet to encounter any credible sources beyond these writings. Commenters note that, while hair braiding as communication is documented in Colombia (for example, the "departes" style and curved braids representing roads), this does not constitute evidence for the same practice among American slaves.[5] One reply states that the story about American slaves mapping escape plans in hair "makes no sense" and appears to be a recent myth based on misapplied Colombian oral history.[5]

Slave women decided to use braiding as a secret code to indicate escape routes.[8] The women planned their escapes by drawing maps using plaits, according to the post.[8] This social media statement asserts the practice but does not provide historical documentation or citations.[8]

A public Facebook group discussion titled "Cornrows as a means of escape for slaves" repeats the claim that "Cornrows were used to help slaves escape slavery. Slaves used cornrows to transfer information and create maps to the north." One post asserts: "This idea was used by women to create maps & deliver messages through their cornrows" and commenters state "It's true, I have read it somewhere with different styles of cornrows on slave women's head. I learnt they use it as a map to escape from their slave masters and used to communicate too" and "They also hid rice and seeds in their corn rows which they planted where they settled." These comments reflect circulating oral or popular narratives rather than documented archival sources.

A TikTok video "The Hidden Maps in Cornrows: A Guide to Freedom" presents an educational-style narrative that cornrow braids "symbolize freedom and heritage in Black culture" and recounts stories of cornrows used as maps and coded messages to guide enslaved people to freedom. The description encourages viewers to "Explore how cornrow braids symbolize freedom and heritage in Black culture" and to "Discover their historical significance" in relation to escape routes, but it does not cite primary historical sources, instead amplifying the widespread modern story of coded cornrow maps.

This Facebook post repeats the claim that braids were used as escape maps for enslaved people and that cornrows could represent routes and directions to freedom, but it provides no primary documentation.

"In the time of slavery in Colombia, hair braiding was used to relay messages. For example, to signal that they wanted to escape, women would braid a hairstyle called departes. It had thick, tight braids, braided closely to the scalp and was tied into buns on the top. And another style had curved braids, tightly braided on their heads. The curved braids would represent the roads they would use to escape. In the braids, they also kept gold and hid seeds which, in the long run, helped them survive after they escaped."[9] This Facebook post attributes the explanation to Xiomara Asprilla García, described elsewhere as a local oral historian and hair braider from Colombia.[9] It reflects local oral tradition rather than cited archival or academic research.[9]