SCALPING

SCALPING is the act, peculiar to North American Indian warfare, of partly cutting, partly tearing off a piece of the skin of the head, with the hair attached; whether the victim is alive or dead at the time does not affect the operation. The Indians, with whom scalps are the trophies of victory, have always left a long lock or tuft on the scalp as a challenge. Bounties have, in American history, more than once been offered for scalps: in 1724 £100 was offered by Massachusetts for Indian scalps; in 1754, during the French and Indian war, a bounty was offered by the French for British scalps, and £100 by the Colonies for Indian scalps; in 1755 Massachusetts offered £40 for every scalp of a male Indian over twelve years old, and £20 for scalps of women and children; &c.