These rites could weed out the weak from the strong, and eventually pointed to the best and wisest leaders among the people.

The second raid against the Crow is another step on White Man's Dog's path toward manhood. He is chosen to "count the first honor" (Welch 139) of the battle, and this shows his stature has risen in the band. He is wounded, but he kills and scalps the leader of the Crows, and his father acknowledges he is a brave. However, he finds he does not enjoy the killing, and this makes him an even greater man, because he understands the evil of fighting amongst each other, when the Natives should all be banding together to ward of the white man's advances. After the second raid, he is renamed "Fools Crow" because the tribe believes he tricked the entire Crow village, and that helped in their victory. This...
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