Warfare
Bravery and loyalty was extremely important in tribes and as always expected from their members. Every male indian wanted the opportunity to prove their bravery. The greatest act of bravery during battle was touch an enemy with either their bare hands or a long stick called a coup stick. Counting coup was a relatively harmless act of bravery and war honor of the highest grade, any blow struck against the enemy counted as a coup, a points system was run for hitting an enemy with a coup stick.A warrior would get few points from killing a man from a distance with a bow and arrow but would gain maximum points from getting up close and tapping the enemy with a coup stick. Acts of bravery like this were considered way more important than actually killing someone.
Causes of war
Plains Indians were often keen to fight wars as it gave them a chance to win glory. Sometimes a war would start because one person may of been seeking revenge.The most common cause of war was the desire for horses. Capturing horses from an enermy camp was another highly valued act of bravery and sometimes tribes fought over control of hunting grounds or because of an insult to someone in the tribe.
Preperation for war
A lot of time was spent by warriors preparing themselves and their horses. Religous rituals often took place and spiritual advice was given by the tribes medicine man. A medicine man was like a doctor a healor of diseases or a worker of magic.
Method of war
Usually the preferred form of battle was a surprise raid, this allowed plenty of opportunity for bravery and cunning but lowered the chances of being killed. Around 20-30 men would go on these raids and few were killed.Women rarely took part but if their own camp was under attack they would be extremely quick to defend themselves and the tribes camp.
Scalping
Death on the battlefield sometimes led to scalping.The SiouxIndians believed you could not enter the eternal after life without a scalp. The Sioux removed the scalp off their dead enemies so they would have fewer enemies in the after life. European settlers thought this proved that the Native Americans were savages but for the Sioux, a scalp was a prized trophy and a cause for great celebration, scalps were often hung on the owners tipi which would show who the best and bravest man would be in the tribe.
B Hunnebell