While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
Coup (blow, stroke). The French-Canadian term adopted
to designate the formal token or signal of victory in battle, as used among the
Plains tribes.
Coups are usually "counted," as it was termed that is, credit of victory was
taken, for three brave deeds, viz, killing an enemy, scalping an enemy, or being
first to strike an enemy either alive or dead. Each one of these entitled a man
to rank as a warrior and to recount the exploit in public; but to be first to
touch the enemy was regarded as the bravest deed of all, as it implied close
approach during battle. Among the
Cheyenne it was even a point of bravado for a
single warrior to rush in among the enemy and strike one with quirt or gun
before attempting to fire, thus doubly risking his own life. Three different
coups might thus be counted by as many different persons upon the body of the
same enemy, and in a few tribes 4 were allowed. The stealing of a horse
from a hostile camp also carried the right to count coup. The stroke (coup)
might be made with whatever was most convenient, even with the naked hand, the
simple touch scoring the victory. In ceremonial parades and functions an
ornamented quirt or rod was sometimes carried and used as a coup stick. The
warrior who could strike a tipi of the enemy in a charge upon a home camp thus
counted coup upon it and was entitled to reproduce its particular design upon
the next new tipi which he made for his own use and to perpetuate the pattern in
his family. In this way he was said to "capture" the tipi. Warriors who had made
coups of distinguished bravery, such as striking an enemy within his own tipi or
behind a breastwork, were selected to preside over the dedication of a new tipi.
The noted
Sioux chief
Red Cloud stated in 1891 that he had counted coup 80
times. See War and War discipline.
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includes some historical materials that may imply negative stereotypes
reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These
items are presented as part of the historical record and should not be
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implied .
Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Frederick Webb Hodge, 1906
