Writerfella here -- writerfella thought long and hard about responding here, but the tale is too compelling. However, writerfella will be as circuitous as is possible, for reasons soon to be obvious. A well-known tribal ceremonial veterans group in Oklahoma performs its honoring celebrations a few times each year. During the Viet Nam War, one of the membership asked a special honor for his son-in-law to be, a young Caucasian Marine who soon would be sent into combat. And the membership chaplain blessed a single small dance bell, then muffled it with cotton. It was given to the young Marine, who was told always to have it on his person, even when he showered, and it would protect him from harm. This he did while in Viet Nam, wearing it on his dog tags in his breast pocket or uniform pants pocket, or around his neck while he slept or showered. Near the end of his tour while he was part of a night patrol, a female sapper suddenly leaped out of the darkness and sprayed the Marines with automatic rifle fire. The young Marine and an officer shot her down but not before she had killed or wounded eight of his friends. He was so enraged and filled with grief that he pulled the woman's body from the ground and scalped the hair from the back of her head. When his duty tour ended, he still had the scalp with him and he brought it back to the United States. Later, he met with the veteran's group and told them the story. They held a smoking ceremony and blessed him, and then told him the ceremonial things he would have to do to be absolved. Then he presented the group with the scalp and it was affixed to one of the ceremonial spears used by the group in their celebrations. At the spring ceremonial, the group honored the returning Marine and told the crowd the story of the muffled bell. The young man took the bell from his dog tags, pulled free the cotton, and then rang it next to the microphone. The crowd cheered and the ceremonials began, with one of the dancers' spears carrying the scalp of the slain enemy sapper, as it has every year since that time. All Best Russ Bates 'writerfella'
I imagine anyone with a knife could cut the scalp off someone's head. It probably would be a bloody mess, but the knife wielder could do it.
The question SCALPED raised was whether any Indian has the knowledge to scalp someone in a traditional Lakota way. The comic implied it was an almost surgical series of cuts, not a quick hack job.
I still doubt whether anyone knows such a precise scalping technique. It was probably last used in the Indian Wars of the 19th century.
Writerfella here -- Having seen too many surgical procedures on video and having had a brother who was a superbly skilled surgical technician, writerfella knows that scalping by intent is not that difficult at all. At times in automobile and motorcycle and even bicycle accidents, contusions suffered on the scalp can actually lead to the detachment of large areas of skin flap, in effect scalping. If imprecision in accidents can cause scalping, how much more easily does precision prevail? All Best Russ Bates 'writerfella'
4 comments:
Writerfella here --
writerfella thought long and hard about responding here, but the tale is too compelling. However, writerfella will be as circuitous as is possible, for reasons soon to be obvious. A well-known tribal ceremonial veterans group in Oklahoma performs its honoring celebrations a few times each year. During the Viet Nam War, one of the membership asked a special honor for his son-in-law to be, a young Caucasian Marine who soon would be sent into combat. And the membership chaplain blessed a single small dance bell, then muffled it with cotton. It was given to the young Marine, who was told always to have it on his person, even when he showered, and it would protect him from harm. This he did while in Viet Nam, wearing it on his dog tags in his breast pocket or uniform pants pocket, or around his neck while he slept or showered. Near the end of his tour while he was part of a night patrol, a female sapper suddenly leaped out of the darkness and sprayed the Marines with automatic rifle fire. The young Marine and an officer shot her down but not before she had killed or wounded eight of his friends. He was so enraged and filled with grief that he pulled the woman's body from the ground and scalped the hair from the back of her head. When his duty tour ended, he still had the scalp with him and he brought it back to the United States. Later, he met with the veteran's group and told them the story. They held a smoking ceremony and blessed him, and then told him the ceremonial things he would have to do to be absolved. Then he presented the group with the scalp and it was affixed to one of the ceremonial spears used by the group in their celebrations. At the spring ceremonial, the group honored the returning Marine and told the crowd the story of the muffled bell. The young man took the bell from his dog tags, pulled free the cotton, and then rang it next to the microphone. The crowd cheered and the ceremonials began, with one of the dancers' spears carrying the scalp of the slain enemy sapper, as it has every year since that time.
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
Interesting....
I imagine anyone with a knife could cut the scalp off someone's head. It probably would be a bloody mess, but the knife wielder could do it.
The question SCALPED raised was whether any Indian has the knowledge to scalp someone in a traditional Lakota way. The comic implied it was an almost surgical series of cuts, not a quick hack job.
I still doubt whether anyone knows such a precise scalping technique. It was probably last used in the Indian Wars of the 19th century.
For more on the subject, see Scalping, Torture, and Mutilation by Indians.
Writerfella here --
Having seen too many surgical procedures on video and having had a brother who was a superbly skilled surgical technician, writerfella knows that scalping by intent is not that difficult at all. At times in automobile and motorcycle and even bicycle accidents, contusions suffered on the scalp can actually lead to the detachment of large areas of skin flap, in effect scalping. If imprecision in accidents can cause scalping, how much more easily does precision prevail?
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
The Red Crow character claimed to know a particular method of scalping. That's what I question, not the general ability to scalp someone.
Interesting that "Red Crow" is also part of Floyd Westerman's name. I wonder if writer Jason Aaron realized that.
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