The Soul Food Cafe provides prompts and challenges for those who wish to participate in the Pythian Games This is one, suggested activity. The beautiful widespreading, feathered war bonnets were developed by the Plains Indians. In the old days the bonnet was only worn on special occasions and it was highly symbolic. Its beauty was of secondary importance for its real value was in its power to protect the wearer. ... http://www.squidoo.com/listmaking Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:08:00 -0600 FeedCreator 1.7.2 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:24:56 -0600 http://www.squidoo.com/listmaking The Soul Food Cafe provides prompts and challenges for those who wish to participate in the Pythian Games This is one, suggested activity. The beautiful widespreading, feathered war bonnets were developed by the Plains Indians. In the old days the bonnet was only worn on special occasions and it was highly symbolic. Its beauty was of secondary importance for its real value was in its power to protect the wearer. The bonnet had to be earned through brave deeds in battle for the very feathers it contained were significant of the deeds themselves. Some warriors might be able to obtain only two or three honor feathers in their whole lifetime, so difficult were they to earn. The bonnet was also the mark of highest respect because it could never be worn without the consent of the leaders of the tribe. A high honor, for example, was received by the warrior who was the first to touch an enemy fallen in battle, for this meant the warrior was at the very front of fighting. Feathers were notched and decorated to designate an event. Feathers told individual stories such as killing, scalping, capturing an enemy's weapon and shield and whether the deed had been done on horseback or foot. The eagle was considered by the Indian as the greatest and most powerful of all birds and the finest bonnets were made out of its feathers. When about ten honors had been won the warrior then went out to secure the eagle feathers with which to make his bonnet. In some tribes these had to be purchased from an individual given special permission to hunt the bird and a tail of twelve perfect feathers could bring the seller as much as a good horse. Some tribes permitted a warrior to hunt his own eagles. This was a dangerous and time-consuming mission and meant that he had to leave the tribe and travel to the high country where the bird could be found. When the destination had been reached, ceremonies were conducted to appeal to the spirits of the birds to be killed The history and construction of a war bonnet held a lot of oral history for the warriors and their tribe. Someone holding a completed boonnet could tell countless stories. This exercise borrows from this old tradition and guides the writer in their quest to document either their own, or the stories of others. from The Book of American Indians by Ralph H. Raphael. In this lens you will learn to use War Bonnets and other things to make lists that kick start your creativity. Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:24:56 -0600