Osage

This sculpture shows an Osage Indian, seeking to attain his tribe’s highest war honour by touching his enemy. Indigenous peoples call this action ‘Counting Coup’: a warrior hitting his enemy with a stick. This is intended to change the enemy’s energy, by just letting him know that you are not frightened and that if you had really wanted to hurt him, you could have. The act of physically touching your enemy without seriously hurting him can take away or disarm his anger. It creates an opportunity for the enemy to think about and consider what he is doing, and gives him a chance to remember that all life is sacred.