Coup
With coup or counting coup , the plains Indians of the Great Plains describe a test of courage in which an enemy was demonstrably touched with a stick, a weapon or with the hand. It was not absolutely necessary that the opponent was injured or killed. The Indians rated coups according to rank:
- Killing an enemy in combat.
- Scalp a living enemy .
- Touching or wounding a living enemy.
- Scalp a dead enemy.
- Steal an opponent's horse.
The rank of a coup was also judged according to the size of the danger and the reputation of the enemy. The coups achieved in the enemy camp counted the most and brought the warrior the highest honor. The highest respect was given to the warrior who sneaked into an enemy's camp unarmed and achieved a coup. Some warriors used ornate coup staffs to touch the enemy with. If the owner survived this bravura piece, then he recreated the scene during the victory celebration. The number of coups achieved could be seen from the war bonnet , the headdress of the Indians. The eagle feathers have been notched and decorated to tell of the brave deeds of a warrior. They gave information about whether he fought on foot or on horseback and what rank the coup achieved in each case.
The fact that touching a helicopter to prevent landing was assigned this term in May 2010 shows that the term is still common , for example with the Lakota , and is also transferred to other contexts.
literature
- Benjamin Capps: The Indians. Series: The Wild West. Time-Life Books (Netherland) BV, 1980.
- Raymond J. DeMallie (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Volume 13: Plains. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC 2001. ISBN 0-16-050400-7
Individual evidence
- ↑ Benjamin Capps: The Indians. Series: The Wild West. Page 234. Time-Life Books (Netherland) BV, 1980.
- ↑ Counting Coup - Lakota Citizens Stop US Helicopters from Landing at Wounded Knee