http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache...+Torture&hl=en
Excerpted from study guide in this college:
http://www.bcconline.com

Indian battle honors were rewarded with eagle feathers. Touching an enemy who was still alive and fighting was considered the greatest honor. They called this counting coup and they carried special coup sticks for this purpose. Rescuing dead and wounded tribe members was also an important honor. The Indians excelled at ambush, but only rarely would conduct a stand-up fight or an attack on a fort. They only fought when they thought they could win and did not like to take casualties. The loss of even one warrior was considered too much. They did not have a security system so their villages were usually caught unprepared for an attack. They also had a complete lack of discipline and this caused many of their planned attacks to fail.