Scalp Dance
Sign of a Successful War Party
In 1858, during John Palliser’s second expedition to Rupert’s Land, he stopped at the Red River settlement. He visited the secluded Ojibwe graves on the banks of the Red River, where he saw “Sioux scalps decorated with beads, bits of cloth, coloured ribbons, and strips of leather, suspended at the extremity of a long slender stick near the head of the grave.”[1]
Ojibwe's First Home
The original home of the Ojibwe is located in the region around Lake Superior: to the north, west and south. Through migration of four hundred miles west of the Lake of the Woods they adapted to their new environment. No longer dependent on the forest for their food and clothing, many owned horses and joined the Métis and half-breeds in their annual spring and fall hunts of the buffalo. Through intermarriage with the Crees of the Plains and Swampys of the Woods they hunted buffalo together, sharing superstitions and customs between the Red River and the South Saskatchewan River.
The scalps represented the spirit of the enemy taken, entering the warrior who killed them, making him stronger and increasing his skill. The scalps usually were only the crown although the entire scalp was often taken. These were worn as accessories to raise the status of the warrior within his lodge or tribe. These scalp-locks became the warrior’s “medicine” to protect him in future battles with his enemy, which is one of the reasons when they entered into battles or forays they never showed any signs of fear. Scalp-locks were plaited with strips of fur: otter, beaver, or mink, beads or porcupine quills. The wearing of the scalp-locks is intended to assist in inciting the enemy into battle.
Significance of the Scalp Dance
The Scalp Dance was performed after a battle to give thanks to the Great Spirit for their ability to conquer and return to their lodges. The dance was performed by both men and women with dancing, singing and feasting, with the scalps tied to the end of a long stick. Sometimes the hands or fingers of the enemy who had been killed were also attached to separate sticks. The sticks would sometimes be returned to the warriors, who would place them at the head of the graves of their relatives or friends who had mourned others killed by the Sioux, or they would be presented to the women.
The First Nations began to scalp their enemies after it was introduced to them in the 1700s when the French, English and Dutch colonial authorities began offering bounties for the scalps of North American Indians.
Sources:
The Canadian Red River Exploring Expedition of 1857 and of the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition of 1858 (1860), Vol. 2, Henry Youle Hind, p.122[1]
Three Years on the Plains Observing Indians, 1867-1870 (1871), Edmond B. Tuttle, p.77
The People of the Plains (1909), Amelia M. Paget, p.48, 82
Societies of the Plains Indians, Vol. XI (1916) Edited by Clark Wissler, p.493
Indian Warrior with Scalp
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Ojibwe Wigwam
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