Indian warfare was very complicated and strange to the white man, especially as it was never intended to bring a crushing defeat on an enemy and subjugation of the opposing tribe. The Indian way was to always leave an enemy to fight another day or what fun would there be with no-one to fight. War was there to protect hunting rights and land, steal goods (especially horses) and to prove an individual's courage and bravado. This is best measured by the process the Lakota called Anho, which the white man called Counting Coup, from the French word meaning to strike. This was simply touching an enemy, either with the hand, a bow or a Coup stick, a short stick used solely to touch an enemy. This was considered the bravest of acts, much braver than killing an enemy with a gun or arrow from a distance, and carried much more standing when acts of war were told around the tipi fires at night. Killing an enemy was also considered a coup but of lesser standing. The second and third people to touch a dead enemy called also claim second and third coup. Coups were displayed by feathers worn by the warrior and these were cut in ways that denoted the class of coup and how the enemy was killed.

   The magnificent war bonnets of the Plains Indian were not decoration and could not be worn by anyone who just felt like it. Every feather in the bonnet had to be earned, either as a coup or the death of an enemy. Therefore those warriors with the biggest war bonnets, sometimes with two feathered trails to the ground were the most respected warriors in the band. Amongst the Lakota the mark of a chief was a single eagle feather worn at the back of the head. Those who were entitled to wear war bonnets were not always chiefs but were very good warriors. This goes against all that Hollywood ever tried to show us in the films, i.e. the bigger the head-dress, the bigger the chief.