Scalping

Scalping is the act of removing the scalp, or a part of the scalp, from a dead body or another living person. The scalp would serve as a trophy from battle or proof of a warrior's skill. Scalping was also done for money, when the scalper was given a certain amount of money as a reward for each scalp of the enemy they acquired.

Scalping was often done during the colonisation of North America. It was practised by certain nations of Native Americans, but this was not the norm.^[1] It was also done by European colonists. Some United States and Mexican territories paid bounties for enemy Native American scalps.^[2]

In Australia, scalping of dingos was a widespread form of bounty hunting. It began in 1912, when the government of South Australia decided to pay people money for dingo scalps, to reduce attacks on livestock. This was also done in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.^[3]

1. ↑ World of the American Indian, by Jules B. Billard, National Geographic Society; First Printing edition (1974), Washington, D.C.
2. ↑ William Brandon and Keith Rosenberg, Native American specialists, The American Heritage Book of Indians (1961).
3. ↑ Ian Keen (ed.). Indigenous participation in Australian economies: Historical and anthropological perspectives. ANU E Press. pp. 91–. ISBN 978-1-921666-86-5. Retrieved 29 March 2012.