The Plains Indian reveled in finery and wore the best he had for ceremonial occasions. When not doing more immediate chores, the women spent untold hours decorating their husbands’ clothing and accoutrements with trade beads and natural items such as bear claws, feathers, quills, pieces of bone, often dyed in bright colors. War bonnets worn by three of these Blackfeet elders were usually reserved for special events. Not often were they worn into combat, where they might be lost in the fury of the fight and perhaps give an enemy some magical power over the rightful owner. The buffalo horn headdress was fairly common and gave the wearer an eerie appearance as he went rushing against an enemy, shouting a war cry calculated to chill his opponent to the bone. In some tribes the man who carried the lance into battle was burdened with a special responsibility not to retreat. For that reason, many warriors shunned the lance as a weapon. – HT