The removal of the hair from the head of an enemy as a trophy. Not all Indians practiced scalping, and it is believed that the custom was not widespread in America before the coming to the white man. Scalping appears to have been the practice of the early Iroquois and Creek and other allied tribes of the East, and some Plains Indians. Among these tribes the head rather than just the scalp, frequently was cut off by the victor.
Scalping is claimed by some historians to have become popular when the colonists and the Government offered bounties for scalps of certain unfriendly Indians. White men as well as Indians took scalps.
While the practice of scalping has been identified with the American Indian, the Greek historian Herodotus records that the ancient Scythians scalped their enemies in Asia Minor. The American Indian made scalping a ceremonial and religious custom, some sacrificing enemy scalps to their gods. others held ceremonial scalp dances.
At first the Indians did not care about the white men's scalps, preferring the scalps of Indian enemies. Plains Indians would not scalp Negroes or "Buffalo Soldiers," as they called them because their hair reminded them of a buffalo. The Pima Indian would not scalp the Apache.
Scalping was not always fatal. Many times the Indians scalped live enemies and allowed them to return in shame to their tribes. some white men were scalped and lived to tell about it. The warrior who killed an enemy did not always scalp him.
Among the Plains Indians, touching a live enemy with a coup stick was an even greater honor than killing and scalping him. If a brave did kill his enemy he might leave the scalping to others. Several men might take a portion of a fallen enemy's scalp, or one man might take the entire scalp and divide it with others later. no warrior measured his honors by the number of scalps he had taken.
Some Plains Indians believed that a man would not go to the hereafter if he had been scalped. For this reason they always scalped enemies and made every effort to save their own dead or wounded from being scalped.
The scalp was not always preserved. Sometimes it was left on the scene of battle. It might be offered as a sacrifice to the sun, in which case it was held toward the sun with a short prayer stick and then placed on a buffalo chip. Other times it might be sacrificed to water and thrown into the river or stream.
If the scalp was to be preserved it was stretched in a hoop about six inches in diameter. When dry the skin side was painted red, or red and black. The hoops containing the scalps were carried at the end of a stick by women at the time of the scalp dance.
Often scalps were used for decoration on shields, lances, robes, and as pendants on bridles. The Dakota saved a scalp for a year, during which period the spirit of the scalped man was supposed to remain near. Then at a great feast all scalps were destroyed and the spirits freed. The Arikara hung scalps in their Medicine Lodge as a sacrifice to their gods.
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