The Indian warrior

One day a new creature appeared in the plains. This strange creature walk on 2 feet and it defended itself from predators really effectively. It turned out it was men. Finally humans had reached the plains and they had come to stay. The prehistoric man moved in groups, and relied on the land for food and shelter. As time passed their ways of living evolved and this small group (later known as the Arapaho) would be called Our People. Our People was a group that evaded conflict with other tribes and believed that a warrior should not be honoured by the kills made in a fight, but by the coups counted during their lifetime. A coup was when a warrior touched their enemy. For every enemy only 3 coups were given so when a coup happened the indian had to shout "Me first" or "me second" or "me third" and later coups where not counted. After battle coups were awarded, based on eye witnesses. One of the most famous warriors was Lame Beaver. Our People had no contact with conquerors but were having trouble because the indians who had now possessed horses and were much effective in battle and hunting. It was Lame Beaver who brought Our People their horses. He was about 16 at the time and he decided to get horses they would steal them from the terrible Comaches. He used himself as bait while 2 other braves opened the stables and caught as many horses as possible. During this run and chase Lame Beaver counted coup of the 3 Comaches (very feared). And that is how Our People got their horses.

Lame Beaver on his horse

"The three companions looked at each other; they had known if the Comache reputation for hideous death but they had not wanted to speak openly of it. Now they had to face prospect an Red Nose addressed his two comrades: "If I falter you must kill me". Cottonwood knee said, "Don't leave me wight the Comache. It was Lame beaver who said it the other way: "If you are helpless, I promise to kill you" (Michener 129). I can connect this to Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games book series, more specifically Mockingjay. (Spoliler Alert) Here Katniss, Gale and many other rebels decide to  rescue Peetah from president  Snow'w power and they had also agreed that, if they were caught by someone from the capitol they would take a pill that would instantly kill them, but if they could not get the pill then the other companions must do whatever was possible to kill them. By killing them they were making it impossible to torture and question the rebels, just like Lame Beaver and his companions wanted to avoid torture. With Lame Beaver's case they do not have the pill technology, so they would have to rely on others for their death. But what suprizes me is that, in both cases, the braves are prepared to die for other people sacrificing themselves for the greater good, and they do not seem to care about the picce they pay to help the people they love or care about. That level of devotion is admirable and only few are born with it so they are people that should be cherished.

"The arrival of the horse among Our People changed many things. To take one example, it was now more pleasant to be a woman, for when the tribe moved she no longer had to haul the travois that were too heavy for the dogs. For another, the whole system of wealth was altered, and a man did not have to wait hears to accumulate enough bison robes to pocure the things he wanted; a horse wan not only more acceptable as exchange but more easily delivered when a transaction was agreed upon." (Michener 131). It is amazing that in indian tribes women were not considered delicate helpless creatures but strong enough to carry their homes on their backs while men carried weapons to protect the moving party. In the colonies women were seen like fragile dependent whereas in indian tribes their role was a lot more important in society and men and women where somewhat more equal. To this day women are underestimated and it seems impossible that we have evolved backwards from the indian times, where a woman had her duties and roles, into our era where society claims that we are equal but still encourages men's control and superiority. 

I think that now that Our People have the horse they will grow as a society and improve in their ways of moving, trading with other indians and become more aggressive and successful in the battlefield. I wonder how did Lame Beaver prepare his mind to be killed by one of his companions if the plan failed? Would he have really killed his friends? Could he have lived with it? Were the horses really worth the possibility of loosing their lives?