Dog soldiers
The term dog soldiers ( cheyenne : Hotamitaniu ; English : Dog-Soldiers ) primarily refers to the most fearless Cheyenne warriors, who were also called dog-men-warriors . For many of these Indian warriors, the principle was: "To get old is not good, it is better to fight bravely in battle and die young".
However, these men were the exception and were idealized rather than imitated by the majority of warriors. There were also men who, after an irreplaceable personal loss, vowed to sacrifice their lives in battle and, in a sense, separated themselves from the community by basically saying and doing the opposite of what they meant (impressively in the film " Little Big Man " with Dustin Hoffman to see). This attitude made some of the dog soldiers the fiercest fighters on the Great Plains , because even when defeat appeared inevitable, they did not retreat but fought all the more.
The opposite warriors ("Hohnuhk`e-") got their name because they had to prove their bravery by riding backwards into battles. They knew a sacred obligation to speak and act in this way. Only a man to whom the thunder in the form of the thunderbird had appeared in a dream or in a vision became “opposite warrior”.
In contrast to the others, these were in constant combat readiness, but remained on observation posts as long as the success of the other warriors seemed certain. But if they suffered a defeat, it was the task of the dog soldiers to attack the enemy and fight until they were killed themselves or the enemy had to flee.
Besides the dog soldiers of the Cheyenne Indians, there were many other military societies among the Plains Indians, for example the Crazy Dogs (crazy dogs) of the Blackfoot or the Warrior League of the Brave Dogs , who always had to look the enemy in the face, no matter how much they feared him, they could never leave.
In view of the behavior in combat, it is not surprising that many of these warrior associations did not last long, as their members did not have a particularly long life.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cheyenne - a prairie tribe. Retrieved June 11, 2009 .