Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1910-07-15
LIFTING the SCALP.
An Art Mex Ccnfiaed to the North
American Indian.
ALLIED TO HEAD HUNTING.

Come indians Removed the Skin of tho
Entire Head, Including the hair and
Beard of Their Viotim-Ears and
Hands Also Served For Trophies.
The art of scalping has declined
owing To the severe pains ana penalties
dealt out to It's practitioners in the va
riOus states of North America. 1t was
in n certain sense product OF Euro
pean settlement. for it would never
have become 80 widespread had it not
been for the white man.
Scalping is commonly considered a
custom belonging exclusively tD the
North American Indian. This is n
mistake. Ii is found In South America,
and IieFolotus mentions IL as having
been practiced among the Scythians.
But rs the old Greek Travellers book
WAS not published until 1902 il is
proijablc that scalpiHg appeared to
the early explorers of America as u
new ttiHg, Is WIS first described by
FrrDcisco de Carey, who in 1870 came
across it i'm his III faied expedition to
Panuco. He found that the Indians
removed the skin Of the entire head,
intending the hair and beard. In 1888
Jacques Cartier wrote mn account OF n
scalping party which * more typical
of the custom as usually found. From
this time on il Is described by many
writer's, notably Captain John Smith
and Champlain.
The Indians themselves were uncer-
tain as to the use of keeping an enc
my's scalp. except that they felt IL
w"uid hnrt him in some way. Some
said IL put him in the power OF the
owner Of the scalp. pihGyS that It ban
ished him from the happy puntipg
grounds, while still others belieyed
that it annihilatcd him.
~ The opinion OF t;corge Freslcrlci.
whose honOgraph may be consulted in
the Smithsonian Institution report of
1906. scalping IL II mudiHcatiop Of
head hunting. u practice INDUCED in
by many savagcS. There Is Il primitive
potion that the possession of n token
az portion of Il man gives one n power
over tiiat man. FL keep the bead Of
an enemy puts MIN ~ Your power, the
savage thinks. But II * often iacoB-
vcnicnt To carry so large thing as u
bead. \ smaller token is therefore sub
Sit,R}R0 This statement would seem
TO he bqr4c oat ~ ibc following facts:
Many Amerirap Indians did NOT fol.
low the practice OF scalping. notably
those or the north. adjoining the IS
tinp, lhp Frazer river Indians and
Tho AJuonuuin. a, En:-. Jn,Sn,. N,orl A.
all of these practiccd hcaa hlHfing: \
transition period is rcpreScntcd 10y the
ead,lDes cf Texas, where the men took
the scaips AMI tho women at y more
convenient period ealloGlR1 thp hpaGs
Some tribes in California sccuFch, in
stead ~ scalps, the eyes of thoir eng
mics. which Wefa preserved in some
way. while others ~ Mexico selected
the cars for their trophy, pPni,nhly fol,
lowing the lead az the Spaniarjs, who
Topped on ears ~ punishment for
crime.
The Hudson river Indians used To
preserve hands, probably In imitation
~ the Dutch, who I'm the SO called
EsopnS kiar gave a bounty for Indian
bands. Abound no sprrces OF the Mis-
souri, the Lewis and Clark eAusilitjon
found the custom Of preserving scaips
fept2ced Joy that Of preserving fingers.
Ia n0rthcFH Mexico the custom OF
scaiping prevailed, bat toward the
souti IL was feplaccd by hcad buntIny.
In South America there are tyo lacali-
ties where IL still iourishes. One OF
these Is northern Argentina and Para
quay, where IL gives signs OF being I'm.
| AiSenous, as II differs In many WAYS
from DO practice OF North America.
ft rs also found around Guiana. proba-
ply introdrccd by The I,,llan slaves
psoaght from Florida.
Ihe HprDp-t roqpois haye beep ac-
credited With ltG Invention Of scalp
ing, but unless IL arose INDEPENDENTLY
ia several places il much more likely
originated ~ Florida. where il was
first discoycFcd rs Europeans, Con.
tact with higher gFade nr culture
gave tremendous impetus "a the Gus
| tom.
frevlouS to the Spanish discoye cry
the weapons or the Indians had been
| very simple. being manufactured from
stone. bones, shells or even reeds. The
| tribal wars, though numerous. were
seldom bloody. and with such primI-
tive means the braves found II both
awkward and dangerous to remove the
scalp of Il fallen enemy.
But the Europeans brought with
them firearms and iron knives. The
former Increased At hnndredfold the
number OF those killed IN battle, while
the latter made the process OF scalpinc
an easy one. Besides this, the whites
encouraged the custom by offering
bountics for scalps.
The first premium ~ this natnre was
offered In 1857 by the Pny,taus. who
gave payment for every Indian head
the custom of scalping not having yes
reached New England But by tbs
time of King Philip. war Ii was 10
full blast, and In 1915 tlae AsBaacticu,
legislature offered large prizes for
scalps. One Hannah Dustin received
f50 aad other substantial gifts for hay.
Ing secured Witt hef own hands the
scalps OF two Indian men, two W0m