Why do Indians wear feathers on their heads? (6 photos)

A typical image of an American Indian is a tomahawk, a peace pipe. AND certainly - feathers on the head. Where did this very Indian come from? tradition of wearing a crown of feathers. Sometimes so big that it touched the earth.





The Yankees called such a headdress war bonnet - "combat cap". The Indians themselves are simply waphaha - literally "hat".

So, I’ll clarify right away - for the most part, a hat or headband from feathers on the head is typical only for North American Indians. Their brethren in South America seldom do this. Although it also happens like in Peru.

There is a legend that the first feathers on the head began worn by the Cherokee Indians. The one to which 1/8 includes the undefeated Chuck Norris.



There is a curious version of anthropologists - feathers in general the oldest decoration of mankind, which appeared many more tens of thousands years ago. What is simpler is that I found on the ground a fallen feather of some an ostrich, stuck it in your hair and you walk around!

And it's not just about beauty. Although in it too.

Firstly, feathers showed the degree of coolness of their owner. In some Indian tribes, when a dude did some a good deed for his relatives (for example, he scalped a pale-faced man), then he had the right to attach another feather to his headdress. The highest award was considered to receive an eagle's feather.



Sometimes the feathers on the head are folded into such bizarre designs. Like this Sheyenne Indian

The Indians believed: feathers carry mystical power, attract positive energy from the spirits of their ancestors.

According to the headdress, the Indians of the Great Plains, having met in prairies of a stranger, determined who was in front of them - the representative of which a particular tribe, what status he has there, experienced or inexperienced fighter, come in peace or war. For crowns of feathers among the Indians very, very different.



Cree Indians at the end of the 19th century

And also a feather headdress is, I tell you, not bad such a helmet. Quite capable of softening a blunt blow to a pumpkin. :) Some Indians, even at the end of the 19th century, believed that feathers on head can also protect them from American bullets.



Canadian Indians

North American Indians are so fond of their head decorations that even got Washington to adopt a special "Law eagle feather". That is, they have the right to collect and sell eagle feathers, whenever and wherever. Although eagles in the USA are actually birds red book and they are strictly protected by the state.

And, yes, not all North American tribes wore head feathers. Some redskins preferred mohawks or something like that fancy horned hats.