Becoming a Warrior

In order to become a warrior or a leader with the Indians, one would need to go through a process called counting coup. There are four different ways to count coup. The first stage or way to count coup, was to steal one of the enemies horses.# One of the leaders Joseph Medicine, was the leader of the Crows after Plenty Coup died. Alive during the time of World War two, Joseph Medicine decided to go out and fight. Him and his crew were stalking a pack of SS officers. The officers tied up their horses, and went into a vacant house. Joseph Medicine, and one of his partners, snuck up on the corral in which the horses were tied up in, and Joseph Medicine untied one of the horses and started to ride off with it. Little did Joseph and his partner know, the SS officers had posted a guard posted outside of the barn, and soon a full out battle broke out. In the middle of the flurry, Joseph Medicine rode out proudly on the top of his horse.# Although he hadn’t tried, Joseph Medicine had just counted the first Coup.

The second Coup needed to become a leader, was to be able to touch the enemy with their hand, coup stick, or a gun.# If they escaped unharmed, then they would put a white feather either on their coup stick, or behind their ear. Although, if they got hurt trying to count coup, they would have to dip their feather in red paint, and the red feather would symbolize that they had gotten hurt.# Plenty Coup was in a battle against the Picante Indian tribe, and he saw a Picante indian behind a pile of shrubs. Sneaking up behind the other side of the weeds, Plenty Coup saw the indians Coup Stick sitting next to him, and it was in his reach. He knew the indian was stuck, if he tried to get up and shoot Plenty Coup, then Plenty Coup could kill him; if he tried to run away, Plenty Coup could also shoot him. Eyeing the Picante’s Coup Stick, Plenty Coup, gently grabbed onto it, and started pulling. The Picante indian grabbed the other side,a dn started to pull also. Plenty Coup was stronger though, and he ripped it out of the Picante indian’s hand, just as the indian leaped up out of the bushes. Plenty Coup also jumped up, and he pegged the Picante indian with his own coup stick!# Plenty Coup had just also counted one of the coups needed.

The third stage of counting coup, deals with touching the enemy also. in order to count your third coup, one must go up and touch the first dead enemy of the fight. Many of the indians that counted coup, would scalp the enemy, but would also always respect them in any fight.# Although Plenty Coup tried in every fight, he didn’t always get this coup. One fight that one of the Chiefs of the Crow indians, was Joseph Medicine, who fought in World War Two.  This Chief was walking along one side of the fence, and on the other side was an SS officer. They both came around the side of the fence at the same time. Chief Medicine knocked the guard over, and started choking him once he got over his surprise. The guard eventually died, and Joseph Medicine counted is third coup. Now he only needed one more coup to become a Chief.
The fourth coup needed to become a chief, was to be able to lead your own war party. This Coup was needed last, because in order to lead your own war party, the warrior had to get the other three coups, which proved he was worthy and brave.# Chief Joseph Medicine got this coup first actually, when he was fighting, and his buddies during World War Two, needed some dynamite to help them fight. Since he was a native american, and the runner of the platoon, he was asked to go to the platoon center and get the dynamite needed. Joseph Medicine got to the center safely and also got back safely. For this deed, Joseph Medicine was awarded his first coup.# During the 1700’s, the leader of the war party, would carry a pipe, that signaled, he was leading the party. Many of the great Native American leaders, warriors, and chiefs died in battle, and they often got hurt, but every single one of them counted their coup, and after counting, they admired the enemy.
by Lauren

Fighting and Healing for a Tribe

During times of the 1700s a lot of Native American warriors would go into battle to fight for their tribes. Although, while in battle, most warriors got extremely hurt by other tribes. Because there were lots of injuries, the victim’s tribe would gather together and follow the healing ritual to mend the wounds. The Native American healing ritual consisted of acting like animals, and using different types of medicines.

When a warrior was close to death or was in any kind of pain that would prevent the warrior from fighting, one method of healing was acting like animals. The Crow Indians acted like animals because they thought that it would spiritually connect them with the animal that they were imitating. In the story of plenty coup, it talks about how Swans-Head  was hurt very badly while in a battle against the Sioux indians. Because of this, He was taken to a nearby lodge, and the healing rituals began. An elderly man named Bird-Shirt, who was also the wisest, made sure everything in order for the ritual to work, was in place and was surely not going to be disrupted. Bird-Shirt finally started to beat the medicine drums and sing a song that went along with the ritual. Shortly after this procedure, Bird-Shirt took a wolf skin painted with stripes of red on his nose and under his eyes. Since the wolf was painted like he was, Bird-Shirt also painted himself from his legs to his knees, from his arms to his elbows, and also his nostrils with red paint. Bird-Shirt also made his head and his ears out of clay, to look just like the wolf skins. while playing the medicine drums slowly and steadily, each hit like a heartbeat, Bird-shirt sang. He sang his medicine song while everyone waited with both excitement and worry in their eyes. The beating became softer but much faster. Bird-Shirt started to both trot around Swans-head and whine like a mother wolf at the same time. After this procedure was done Swans-Head opened his eyes and was finally healed.

Not only did the Crow Indians use the method of acting like an animal but they also used different types of medicines. The medicines that the Crow Indians used in 1700s are a lot different than the medicines that we see and use  today in the world we live in. For example, The Crow indians would use plants and a lot of different kinds of herbs. When healing, The Indians first watched sick and wounded animals to see what they used to cure themselves. Because of this, the wounded and sick animals introduced the Native Americans to using herbs and plants as a medicine. The Native Americans used Tobacco in almost all of their cures and became one of the most sacred herbs. The Native Americans used flowers such as sage, to cure evil spirits, and animal skins to connect themselves with a specific animal and cure the wounded by the animals power. Although in our culture today, anybody is allowed to get and distribute medicine, in the Native American culture, it wasn't right for just anybody to give out the medicine to the wounded. It was apart of the ritual that the wisest man would distribute the medicine. In the story of Plenty coup, Bird-Shirt, who was the wisest man in the tribe, beat the medicine drums, which was also a form of medicine,  for  Swans-Head. Other Medicines that were used consist of Cedar fruit and leaves for coughs and colds, animal skins, singing, and the beating of the medicine drums.

These healing rituals were used for many years during the 1700’s by the Native Americans. It is said that the 80% of the time, the healing rituals actually worked. The Indians think that the only reason that sometimes the ritual didn't work, was because something went wrong with the procedure. For example, everything had to be quiet around the area where the healing was taking place. If one thing was done wrong, or even if one thing was out of place the healing ritual would not be successful and the warrior would not be cured. These are just a few examples of how Native Americans in the 1700’s used their own ideas like acting like animals and different kinds of medicines to cure the wounded warriors in their tribes.
By Lunden

The 4 ways to count coup

By stealing a horse, touching and enemy, leading a war party, and knocking enemies down are all ways to count coup in the native american culture.

The first way to count coup is by stealing a horse. the chief after plenty coup earned his coups in World War ll. One way he counted coup was by stealing one of the german’s horse. In the middle of the night he went to steal a horse. this only took a matter of minutes by using his knife to cut the rope and calming the horse with his smooth words. “Whoa, whoa now, whoa now,” said Joseph Medicine Crow. He would sneak by unharmed, but to find out he stole a mule not a horse, although this was counted as a coup.

Another way to count coup was by touching the enemy. After knocking the enemy down with his gun, Joseph grabbed the enemies neck. the enemy begged for mercy, and Joseph spared his life by letting go of his neck. This  was another way to count coup because of him touching or grabbing the enemy.# One of the battles between the Crow and the Sioux showed much of counting coup. For example when he-is-brave-without-being-married struck one of the enemy Sioux with his arm showed a way of counting coup.#

Next leading  a war party was a great way to count coup. For example when Joseph lead his party in World War ll to complete the mission and all come back fine. To Joseph this was a hard part of the counting coup process, but when Joseph was in the war he didn’t realize he was counting coup . Plenty Coup had lead many war parties into battle, yet not all came back alive, although many battles where a victory.

The last way to count coup was by Knocking your enemy to the ground with a weapon. Such as when Joseph Knock the enemy down with his weapon and started to grab his neck. This actually showed counting coup two times because of the knocking down enemy with his enemy, and grabbing his neck considered touching the enemy. Also Plenty Coup knocked down two enemies with his gun one time in battle showing a way to count coup. He also hit a man with there coup stick knocking them down and running away.

The few ways of counting coup showed honor and bravery to the Native American tribes.

by jaden

Healing from Battle

While in battle, the Crows held strong to their healing methods ,but it didn't always work. The Crow indians, like many others, had their own way of healing and medicine.

Their methods aimed toward healing them spiritually, they wanted to restore one to a healthy and spiritually pure state#. When they would heal somebody it was a ritual, they had symbolic rituals  that would treat illness, and other remedies such as herbal would treat physical. A symbolic ritual could involve family members to beg the spirits to want to help heal the person; if a person is really sick they might hold a whole community ceremonie, there they would sing, paint their bodies, and of course dance. These things could last from hours up to several weeks. They never give up.For example, Plenty Coups told a story of when a fellow Crow warrior was shot , his name was The Wolf. Takes Plenty, a wise medicine man, that also was Plenty Coups uncle, immediately went to work. The Wolf was in rough shape with blood spilling from the whole in his breast. Takes Plenty opened what they called a medicine pouch and took out

The-flower-the-buffalo-will-not-eat and they watched him chew it up in his mouth and blew the contents upon The Wolf’s breast. He then took a few steps, about one-quarter round the body, and repeated what he just did. Then half round, next three quarters and every time he did  the exact same thing. Takes plenty then began acting as a buffalo-bull and snorted and jumped over the wounded warrior. The Wolf tried turning his body to watch but they never met eyes. he repeated this several times until he finally said “bring me a robe with a tail on it”. Now he was jumping over the man while waving a buffalo tail before him. He did this on purpose to try and make The Wolf reach for the tail. Still not looking at him he continued jumping and leaping over him. He then turned to walk slowly away while The Wolfs once weak effort to grab the tail turned into a must and he kept reaching farther and farther out until at last he was sitting straight up. Takes Plenty now looked into the wounded warriors hopeful eyes, but still backing away. The Wolf  reached further and further out until he was on his feet! They then opened his shirt and they told The Wolf to stretch himself and soon black blood spilled out over his body followed by red blood, Takes Plenty filled the hole with the same flowers and The Wolf was fine to live on.#

In order for these healings to work everything has to be exact  and by exact I mean if the ritual was interrupted or somebody messed it up and touched or went through something they were not aloud to it probably wouldn't work. See these things were also the Indians way of asking the spirits to help heal, so if it were interrupted it wouldn't work. Once a Crow Indian named Bird Shirt too got wounded severely and they did a healing ritual and the man did live for three or four days but then died and they said it was because of a violation of one of the first orders given.

Plenty Coups said “ our wise ones learned much from the animals and bird who heal themselves from wounds. But our faith in them Perished soon after the white man came, and now, too late, we know that with all his wonderful powers, the white man is not wise. He is smart, but not wise, and fools only himself.” Like us, the indians had many methods of healing and back then their methods might not seem so practical to us but the often worked very well.

by brooke

Counting Coup

The Crow had four ways of counting coup: stealing horses, knocking the enemy down, touching the enemy, and leading a war party.

The first way is stealing a horse from a different tribe. In the Native American Testimony, it describes how Joseph Medicine Crow counted all four coup in WWII. He went up to the German’s horse stable and walked up to a horse saying “Whoa, whoa, now, whoa now.” Joseph wrapped a rope around its snout and attempted to get on with his mud caked boots. He had some troubles at first but finally got on and rode to the gate that his partner will open at his whistle. Thats how Joseph got his first coup.#

Then, Joseph got a coup by knocking an armed German down. Another one of the four ways to get coup is to knock down and armed enemy while unarmed. They were both going the same direction and Joseph jumped up and knocked him down. There was another story Mr. Johnson told us about when Plenty Coup got on his horse, rode over to three armed Flathead indians, through his gun to the side, and jumped off his horse on to two of the armed Indians collecting coup. Then killed them with his bare hands.

The Third way is to touch an enemy. When he knocked him down he put his hands around the german’s throat but let go before he killed him counting one more unthought about coup. Plenty Coup also did this but in a different way. He dove to a man hiding behind tall grass trying to not be seen or hurt by the armed man or his feather would have to be painted red meaning he got injured in the attempt to gather coup. He reached around and grabbed the man’s coup-stick and struck the man with his own coup-stick then kept it, proof that he counted coup with someone elses coup-stick on pg. 222.# The final way to get the fourth coup is to lead a war party. In the Native American Testimony, Joseph led a war party earning his fourth and last coup required to be a chief. He took six men and led them up the hill covered in mines. they through a bunch of smoke grenades until the whole side of the hill was covered with white smoke. They didn’t know where the mines were so they just ran blindly up the hill while the Germans shot mortars at the hillside some coming awfully close.

There were four ways of counting coup that were required in order to become a chief that Joseph and Plenty Coup got and became chiefs.
by wyatt

Religious Healers

“There is no man alive today that is as religious as the indians where.” This was said by Chief Plenty-Coup. What he said is very true, the Native Americans whole life was centered around the spirits. Everything thing they did was somehow connected to the spirits. Today you don’t see religion like the Native Americans had.

Religion in the Native American culture has always been a way of life, and therefore made the Indians very religious, because religion was the reason for everything they did. For the Native Americans medicine was always about healing the person, and less about the health issues they were undergoing. Whenever someone falls ill in the tribe it is believed to the Indians as spiritual problems. So when the medicine man in the tribe would come to help the ill person, they were mostly trying to balance the sick person back to a pure state of spirituality. Some healing rituals could go on for days and during these days the sick person’s family would be around the whole time for the healing ritual contributing mostly by pray. The family members could also join in the medicine man’s singing and the chants. Some of these rituals are still practiced today.#

In the book “Plenty-Coup; chief of the Crows”#  by Frank Linderman, Plenty-Coup tells the story of a battle he was once in where one of their men got shot. The medicine man (also known as a Shaman), of his tribe at that time, performed a ritual for the shot man by the creek. He made a path the creek and told everyone in the tribe they where not to pass it or else the spirits would be upset and something bad might come to the wounded warrior. Before the ritual could begin the Shaman put on a wolf’s skin and made clay wolf ears. He also painted  the injured man Blue.The Medicine man placed the hurt man on the ground and skipped around four times like a wolf does. He would jump over the man repetitively and howling at the same time he soon lead the man slowly towards the creek down the path until they where standing in the creek. The man soon began to bleed rapidly turning the calm water a dark red,the shaman hurried to clean his wounds. Four days after this ritual the wounded warrior passed away sadly, the Crows explanation for his death was that somebody must have walked over the path causing the death of the man. Religion circled the Native Americans life with everything they did.

Death in the Native Americans perspective was not seen as a scary doom to them. Death was apart of everyday life, and they faced it with dignity.
by riley

Importance of Animals

In the crow tribe animals were an important part of their life and religion. One way animals were a vital part of their life cycle was because they provided everything they needed for life. For example, buffalo nearly ran the Crow’s life. They followed the buffalo around to hunt them for food, shelter, and clothing. Whenever they killed a buffalo the Crow always treated them with respect and honor. Another way animals were an important part of the Crow life was because many natives had names of animals. For example, in Linderman’s account of Plenty Coups vision. there were names such as Coyote Runs, Yellow Bear, and Plain-Bull. These people helped interpret and figure out the dream, so one can see that having a name like an animal is a great honor for Native Americans especially Crow. Another example would also be from Vision Quest Structures. Plenty Coups was on his first vision at the age of ten. While on it he saw many buffalo pouring out of a hole in the ground and spread over the plains only to pop into nothing. Many more spotted buffalo (cows) came out of the hole and covered the plains.  Another example of an animal in Plenty Coups vision was the chickadee. In the end of his vision Plenty Coup saw a dark forest, and in that forest one tree with a lone chickadee. This bird taught Plenty Coup to be wise and to listen to others just like the chickadee does in real life. It never barges in and always hears with a steady mind. The inclusion of animals in Crow culture was huge and important and to be put on a vision quest with that much animal interaction was very honorable.
by Mavrick