American Indian Wars is the name used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between American settlers or the federal government and the Native Americans. The wars were the result of the arrival of European colonizers who continuously expanded their territory pushing the indigenous populations westwards. The wars were spurred by ideologies such as Manifest Destiny, that held that the United States was destined to expand from coast to coast on the American continent, and which resulted in the policy of Indian removal by which Indigenous peoples were removed from the areas where Europeans were settling forcefully or by means of voluntary exchange of
territory through treaties.
Bravery was extremely important. Every male Indian wanted the opportunity to prove their bravery. Each Native American tribe expected loyalty and great bravery from its members. A point-scoring system was run for hitting an enemy with a ‘coup’ stick. A warrior would gain few points for killing a man from a distance with his bow and arrow, but would gain maximum points for getting close enough to tap him with his coup stick. The greatest sign of bravery during battle was to touch an enemy with either bare hands or a special long stick called a coup stick. Acts of bravery like this were more
important that actually killing someone. “Coup” meant war count. All the coups were carefully counted and each Native American would display them for all to see. This would either be by feathers on their war bonnets or notches on their coup stick.
Causes of War
Plains Indians were often keen to fight wars as it gave them a chance to win glory. Sometimes a war might start just because of one person seeking
revenge.
Fighting for Horses
The most common cause of war was the desire for horses. Capturing horses from an enemy camp was a highly valued act of bravery. Sometimes tribes fought over control of hunting grounds or because of an insult.
Preparation for war
A great deal of time was spent by warriors preparing themselves and their horses. Religious rituals took place and spiritual advice was given by the medicine man.
Method of war
The preferred form of battle was a sudden surprise raid. This allowed plenty of opportunity for bravery and cunning, but lowered the chances of being killed. On average 20-30 men would go on such raids and few were killed. Women very rarely took part in a raid. If their own camp was under attack they would be extremely quick to defend themselves though.
R Uddin