Because the tribe was so advanced compared to others, the hair style caught on and spread to other tribes in the north east of the Congo who wanted to look as rich and intelligent as them. The skills needed to make their hair look as snazzy as possible are passed down from the elderly women of the tribe to the youngsters. Styling the hair of someone important is a position of pride.
One early explorer, Georg Schweinfurth, reported home about the amazing society of the Mangbetu in glowing terms. He referred to them as aristocratic and elegant. Compared to the way early explorers normally talked about remote tribes, that is praise indeed.
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