Did the crow tribe use spears?

Answer 1

Spears were not a common weapon among most tribes in North America and the main weapon of the Crows was always the bow and arrow, with clubs and knives as secondary weapons and thick rawhide shields for defence.

Many of the Crow warrior societies carried decorated "lances" or staffs, often without any kind of point, as a kind of society badge. These societies were the Bulls, Muddy Hands, Prairie Foxes, Raven Owners, Half-Shaved Heads, Lumpwoods or Knobbed Sticks, Stone Hammers, Little Dogs and Big Dogs. By 1870 the Foxes and Dogs were the main societies, with some of the others dying out.

Each warrior society had "officers" who were chosen to serve for just one year; they carried lances or staffs, some straight and some with curved or hooked upper ends and usually with the lower end sharpened but without any kind of stone or metal point. The lances or staffs could be decorated with otter fur strips, eagle feathers and fringes of buffalo calf hide. Some officers also wore long sashes of painted hide or red cloth or belts of bear skin.

These lances were used like standards, as rallying points for members of the warrior society in battle and those carrying them were expected to be fearless and daring. In cases where the warriors were retreating, bearers of curved staffs were expected to dismount, push the pointed end of the lance into the ground and fight to the death while everyone else got away - many warriors were reluctant to carry such a lance because of this.

Many people today often confuse spears with long, straight coup sticks often carried by the Crow and other Plains tribes. Coup sticks were not weapons, but were used to "count coup" on an enemy without injuring him.

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