THE INDIAN’S PROFICIENCY BADGE

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 137, 31 August 1927, Page 6

THE INDIAN’S PROFICIENCY BADGE

The feather war bonnet of the Plains Indian, the only Indian before the time of the movie "thrillers” who ever wore a war bonnet, was a proficiency badge system like that of the Scouts, each feather representing a definite honour or coup.

The highest honour that could be gained by a young Indian was achieved by touching a living enemy with his bare hand. As you know, this would require the greatest skill in scouting. Lesser honours were awarded for capturing an enemy’s weapons and for his scalp. When an Indian brave had gained sufficient honours to entitle him to wear a war bonnet, he was required to catch an eagle alive, then kill it, to procure the feathers for the prospective bonnet. Eagle feathers were used because the Indians regarded the eagle as the greatest of all birds. The eagle was caught by means of a covered pit, in which the young brave waited until the bird, attracted by an exposed carcase, alighted, when the Indian reached through and seized the bird by the feet.

When the Indian had his feathers and other material ready for the making of the bonnet, the chief men of the tribe were called together for a feast and to act as a "badge committee.” Following the feast, the foundation for the bonnet was fashioned of soft buckskin. The feathers were then prepared, each being bound at the end with horsehair, to represent the scalp lock of a fallen enemy. As each feather was made ready it inas handed to the candidate, and he described the deed which he thought entitled him to wear it. As a bonnet contained thirty to forty feathers, and as each qualifying deed had tc be recounted at full length, it sometimes required weeks to complete the bonnet. The bonnet was finally ornamented with a band of quills or beadwork and strips of weasel skin. The weasel skin was supposed to impart to the wearer skill in Scouting and alertness in evading pursuit.