Payette enterprise. (Payette, Canyon Co., Idaho) 1909-1935, 1910-11-10
LIFTING THE SCALP
An Art Not Confined to the North
American Indian.
ALLIED 40 HEAD HUNTING.
Some-lndians Removed the Skin Of the
Entire Head. Including the hair arc
Beard OF Their vietim-Esrs and
Hands Also Served For Trophies


Hands Also Served For Trophies
The art of scaiping has declined
owing TO the severe pains and penalties
dealt out to its practitioners In the va
rious states Of North America. Il wis
in a certain sense a product Of Euro
pean settlement for il would never
have become so widespread had il not
been for the white man.
Scalping is commonly considered y
custom belonging exclusively 10 size
North American Indian This is
mistake II Is found IN S0uiIsA ni.rira.
and HerodOtus mentions il ~ having
been practiced HniUug the SCyJhiaH~
But as the old Greek travellers lDaS
was not published until l5c3 IL Is
probable that s,alping APPEARED iu
the early explorers Of Auirric-l rs 10
new thing. II WAS first described hf
francisco de Carey. who iB lisl riur
across it In his 81 faIpd expedition 10
Panuco. he found that Gb. Inf.ila-
removed the skin 'nt the entire ip.ad
including the hair and beard IN 1879
Jacques Cartier wratr IN arcuuUt of 20
scalping party which Is more ryIiic.u
of the custom as usually fuuna f'rum
this time on II is described rs Hary
writers. notably Captain John Smith
and Champlain
The Indians themselves were uHrer-
tain as to the use Of ErpPiH= ga ra-.
my's scalp, except That they felt 10
would hurt him To- some way S;Ee
said it put him ia the power Of the
owner of the scalp. Others that # baa
ished him from the happy EaaiIu-
grounds. while still others believed
that it annihilaIcd him
In the opinion Of George FFederici.
whose monograph may be consulted I'D
the Smithsonian Institution report Of
1906. scalping Is modification %
head bunting. Is practice iudUIgeti il
by many savaceS- There l., 81 primi,;,
notion that the possession Of a tukrsi
or portion of man gives cite power
over that man 10 keep the head Of
an enemy puts Eiu ia. your i-swer. 'se
savage thinks isu; i, is often iuCuu-
yenient TO carry So large Il thing as e
stituted. This statement WOuld seen,
to be borne out by the following facfS [
Many American Indians did BsI ful-
low the practice Of scalping. notably
those of the north. adjoining the Is {
kimo, the Frazer river Indians and 4
the Algonquins Of New Jersey. Nearly .
all of these practiced head hunting .
transition period is represented by the
Caddoes of Texas. where the men took 4
the scalps and the women IT a more
convenient period collected the heads. .
Some tribes in California secured. in
stead Of scaips. the eyes of their enc
mics, which were preserved in some
way, while others in Mexico se.ected
the ears for their trophy. probably fol
lowing the lead of the Spaniar,ls. who
Topped off ears as punishment for
crime.
The Hudson river Indians used to
preserve hands. probably in imitation
of the Dutch. who in the 50 called
Esopus war gave a bounty for Indian
hands. Around the sources OF the Mis-
souri, the Lewis aud Clark expedition
found the custom of preserving scalps
replaced by that of preserving fingers
In northern Mexico the custom Of
scalping prevailed. but toward the
south it was replaced by head hunting
In South America there are two lOcali-
ties where it still tiOurishes one Of
these is northern Argentina and Para
quay. where il gives signs Of being in
digenous. as it differs in many ways
from the practice Of North America.
It is also found around Guiana. prOba-
bly, introduced by the Indian slaves 4
brought from Florida.
The Huron-IroQuois have been ac-
credited with the invention Of scalp
ing. but unless IL arose independently
in several places il much more likely
originated in Florida. where il was
first discovered by Eurupeaus. Con
tact with a higher grade Of culture
gave q tremendous impetus to the Gus
tom. u
Previous 10 the Spanish discovery
the weapons OF the Indians had uPen
very simple. being manufactured from {
stone. bones. shells or even reeds The {
tribal wars. though numerous. were I
seldom bloody. aud with such primi- .
tive means the braves found it both /
awkward and dangerous TO remove the +
scalp Of fallen enemy.
But the Europeans brought With ,
them firearms and iron knives The /
former increased a hundrclfold The
number OF those killed in battle. while /
the latter made the process Of sCalpiug
IN easy one. Besides this. the whites
the custom by offering I
oounties for scalps
The first premium Of this nature was /
offered in 1857 by the Puritans. who I
gave a payment for every Indian head.
the custom OF scalping not having yet
reached New England But by the
time OF King Philips war II was IN