HEAD BAND
Each brave needs a head band This holds his feathers as they are won and his scalp if he wears one is fastened to it behind It consists of a strip of soft leather long enough to go around the head and overlap by two inches it is fastenedat the rear with a lace through the four holes like the lace of machine belting A bead pattern ornaments the front and it may be finished at each side in some broader design It is the foundation for the warbonnet and has places for twenty four feathers two eagle tails See Warbonnet later The feathers are made of white quill feathers the tip dyed dark brown or black a leather loop is lashed to the quill end of each to fasten it on to the head band Each feather stands for an exploit and is awarded by the Council An oval of paper is glued on near the high end This bears a symbol of the feat it commemorates If it was Grand Coup or High Honor the feather has a tuft of red horsehair lashed on the top
WARBONNET OR HEADDRESS ITS MEANING
The typical Indian is always shown with a warbonnet or warcap of eagle feathers Every one is familiar with the look of this headdress but I find that few know its meaning or why the Indian glories in it so In the days when the Redman was unchanged by white men's ways every feather in the brave's headdress was awarded to him by the Grand Council for some great deed usually in warfare Hence the expression a feather in his cap These deeds are now called coups pronounced coo and when of exceptional valor they were grand coups and the eagle's feather had a tuft of horsehair or down fastened on its top Not only was each feather bestowed for some exploit but there were also ways of marking the feathers so as to show the kind of deed Old plainsmen give an exciting picture in Indian life after the return of a successful war party All assemble in the Grand Council lodge of the village First the leader of the party stands up holding in his hands or having near him the scalps or other trophies he has taken and says in a loud voice Great Chief and Council of my Nation I claim a grand coup because I went alone into the enemy's camp and learned about their plans and when I came away I met one of them and killed him within his own camp Then if all the witnesses grunt and say Hul or Howl Howl So it is so the Council awards the warrior an eagle feather with a red tuft and a large red spot on the web which tell why it was given The warrior goes on I claim grand coup because I slapped the enemy's face with my hand thereby warning him and increasing the risk before I killed him with my knife A loud chorus of Howl Howl Howl from the others sustains him and he is awarded another grand coup I claim grand coup because I captured his horse while two of his friends were watching Here perhaps there are murmurs of dissent from the witnesses another man claims that he also had a hand in it There is a dispute and maybe both are awarded a coup but neither gets grand coup The feathers are marked with a horseshoe but without a red tuft The killing of one enemy might according to Mallery 4 Ann Eth p 184 confer feathers on four different men the first second and third to strike him and the one who took his scalp After the chief each of the warriors comes forward in turn and claims and is awarded his due honors to be worn ever afterward on state occasions All awards are made and all disputes settled by the Council and no man would dream of being so foolish as to wear an honor that had not been conferred by them or in any way to dispute their ruling In the light of this we see new interest attach to the headdress of some famous warrior of the West when he is shown with a circle of tufted feathers around his head and then added to that a tail of one hundred or more reaching to the ground or trailing behind him We know that like the rows of medals on an old soldier's breast they are the record of wonderful past achievements that every one of them was won perhaps at the risk of his life What wonder is it that travelers on the plains to day tell us that the Indian values his headdress above all things else He would usually prefer to part with his ponies and his teepee before he will give up that array of eagle plumes the only tangible record that he has of whatever was heroic in his past
PLENTY COUPS
I remember vividly a scene I once witnessed years ago in the West when my attention was strongly directed to the significance of the warbonnet I was living among a certain tribe of Indians and one day they were subjected to a petty indignity by a well meaning ill advised missionary Two regiments of United States Cavalry were camped near and so being within the letter of the law he also had power to enforce it But this occurrence was the last of a long series of foolish small attacks on their harmless customs and it roused the Indians especially the younger ones to the point of rebellion A Grand Council was called A warrior got up and made a strong logical appeal to their manhood a tremendously stirring speech He worked them all up and they were ready to go on the warpath with him to lead them I felt that my scalp was in serious danger for an outburst seemed at hand. But now there arose a big square jawed man who had smoked in silence He made a very short speech It was full of plain good sense He told them what he knew about the United States Army how superior it was to all the Indian tribes put together how hopeless it was to fight it and urged them to give up the foob sh notion of the warpath His speech would not compare with that of the other He had neither the fire nor the words he had not even the popular sympathy and yet he quelled the disturbance in his few sentences and as I looked there dawned on me the reason for his power While the gifted orator of the big words had in his hair a single untuf ted eagle feather the other the man with the square jaw had eagle feathers all around his head and trailing down his back and two feet on the ground behind him and every one of them with a bright red tuft of horsehair at its top and I knew then that I was listening to the voice of Plenty Coups the most famous chief on the Upper Missouri and I realized how a few words from the man of deeds will go further than all the stirring speeches of one who has no record of prowess to back up his threats and fiery denunciations Tail feathers of the war eagle were considered essential at one time but many others are now used I should be sorry to increase a demand which would stimulate pursuit of a noble bird already threatened with extinction Most of the big feather dealers have what are known as white quills These are wing feathers of swans and are sold at about 25 cents a dozen These when the tips are dyed brown make a good substitute for eagle feathers They are still more like if a little down from a white hen be lashed on.
- Woodcraft and Indian Lore, Feathers, Earnest Thompson Seton, Coop, HeadDress,
