• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Odds / Where did scalping originate and How did the Indians start scalping their enemies?

Where did scalping originate and How did the Indians start scalping their enemies?

July 11, 2020 by Karen Hill

Godwin, Earl of Wessex, scalped his enemies way back in the 11th century. Six hundred years later the Dutch and English brought the custom to North America, not as an official method of warfare, but as a bounty to ease the fury of the frontiersmen.

Outlaws, runaways, and freethinkers were the early settlers of the western border, an area rife with drink and disease, a hotbed of conflict both with the Indians and with the profiteering colonial government, which was staid and tyrannical in the eyes of the freethinkers.

The frontiersmen turned on the Indians, eager to clear them out, and then they turned to their governments, demanding retribution for depredations caused by the Indians. The Dutch government and soon after the English devised the scalp bounty as conciliation, that is, they paid a certain amount for delivery of an Indian scalp.

Although the major task of pushing out the Indians was being accomplished by government troops, certainly the bounty encouraged resistance to their presence. In 1703 Massachusetts paid £12 for an Indian scalp. Less than 20 years later the price had soared to £100, an enticing bonus for the frontiersmen, who did not care (nor could the governments know) whether the scalp came from an Indian enemy or ally, from a man, woman, or child.

The practice became widespread, and missionaries were solicitous for their Indian converts. The French used the scalp bounty to eliminate the peaceful Beothuk of Newfoundland, who presented only a slight irritation. During the French and Indian Wars, General Braddock offered his troops £200 for the scalp of the Delaware leader Shinngass, 40 times the price offered for a French soldier’s hair. Some governments continued to pay for Apache scalps into the 19th century, when a public outcry finally ended the practice.

Some Indian tribes had practiced scalping to a very limited extent before the Europeans arrived, but the scalp bounty induced widespread retaliation.

Many tribes, the Iroquois in particular, used scalping as a defense against the encroaching whites and were later held accountable for initiating the practice since no European, it was readily presumed, would stoop so low.

Related Facts

  • How were Plains Indians warlike and Why were the Sioux and the Pawnee enemies?
  • When did the Pueblo Indians first encounter non-Indians and When did the Spanish colonists settle in their lands?
  • What did the Pueblo Indians farm and When did the Pueblo Indians learn to grow corn?
  • Who are the Pueblo Indians and Where did the Pueblo Indians come from?
  • What were California Indians' baskets used for and What was so special about the California Indians' baskets?
  • When did the American Indians of the Great Plains start riding horses?

Filed Under: Odds

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « How did factory workers unionize the Ford Motor Company and When?
Next Post: How did Franklin D. Roosevelt appoint the first woman to a president’s Cabinet? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2021 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy