Catch-the-Bear's war bonnet

Catch-the-Bear's war bonnet (also called Catch-the-Bear's folly) was an unusual war bonnet made by Cheyenne warrior Catch-the-Bear. After a discussion with Cousin Belial about projecting pain onto the enemy, Catch-the-Bear fashioned a cap out of human skin taken from the Sun Dance ceremony; his wife, then 32 years old, decorated it with quillwork and became crippled with arthritis in the process. In July 1856, Catch-the-Bear attached his two hard-earned eagle feathers to it and wore it to a war council.

When wearing the bonnet, Catch-the-Bear gained the ability to inflict wounds with only his gaze, and he quickly began a rise to the rank of war chief. However, the bonnet drove him completely mad: he refused to take it off, he pulled out all his hair to clear a path for the signal, and he began babbling in the languages of other tribes about ancestors he had never had and battles he had never fought. At one point, he claimed to be receiving messages from a dakina named Sam Kneuppe.

After Catch-the-Bear's death that December, the bonnet was buried with him, even though the women refused to touch it. (PROSE: The Book of the War)