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Scalp tradition
Where did the tradition to scalp the enemy come from? The matter is that this wild tradition doesn't have much in common with the Indian traditions. It appeared after the first battles with European conquerors. Very often scalping was practiced by Indians as the response to violence destined to scare the enemy.
But it was response because the first who started to scalp were the Europeans. The tradition to scalp enemies was born in Holland and England but when the first settlements came to America they decided to leave this terrible tradition at home. Nevertheless this tradition was brought to newly discovered continent and developed a lot as one of the methods of war.
Considering the fact that many settlements ran away from the prison or slavery the spread of such tradition is not occasional. Soon, the Dutch and later the English government decided to give the award for the killed Indians. And scalp was the proof of the Indian's murder.
The origins of scalp didn't preoccupy people a lot that is why very often the neighbours were scalped and their scalps were carried as a proof of Indian's killing.
For example, in 1723 it was possible to get about 100 pounds for each scalp. And it was a great sum of money at that time. During the French and the Indians wars Englishmen promised 200 pounds for the scalp of the leader of the tribe. This sum was 25 times bigger than the one promised for the French soldier scalp. The practice of awarding continued till 19th century until the population started to show its indignation with such violence.