Feather war bonnet or headdress basic info

As noted in the post from Encyclopedia Britannica, headdresses have very specific cultural significance for the tribes who use them. To further expand on that and to further emphasize the inappropriateness of the headdress image on the YPD logo, please continue reading.

Headdresses are traditional to a few specific tribes, the Great Plains, Sioux, Blackfeet, Crow, Cheyenne, and Plains Cree, though other tribes have come to adopt them.

 

"Feathered headdresses, or more correctly, eagle-feather war bonnets, were and are objects of great significance for peoples of the Plains tribes.

A male warrior had to earn the privilege of wearing a war bonnet. This item of adornment, along with the warrior's clothing, communicated his rank in a given warrior society. Someone could not just decide to wear one–it was decidedly not a fashion accessory. In fact, to acquire a war bonnet a warrior had to display great bravery in battle. On those occasions that a warrior accomplished great deeds or battle coups, he received an eagle feather. For this reason, feathers also recalled specific moments in time. When worn into battle, a warrior could not surrender his war bonnet, and so it acquired associations with bravery and valiancy. Warriors who had elaborate bonnets clearly possessed these desirable qualities in great quantities.

Only important chiefs and warriors could don a war bonnet, and they were typically worn during ceremonies; certain types of war bonnets would have been difficult to wear into battle, especially those that trailed down the length of the back."

(https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-americas/native-north-america/native-american-west/a/feathered-war-bonnet) 

"Almost every tribal nation in North America wore some form of headdress. The purpose of this headgear was manifold:

• To intimidate the enemy during battle
• For ceremonial purposes
• For protection from the elements.
• To depict status within the Tribe

The type of headdress worn by different tribes depended on the individual tribes’ customs and beliefs as well as the readily available materials. For almost all types of headdress, they were sacred to their tribe and today they should never be appropriated by non-Native Americans. (Headbands, however, do not have the same sacred meanings and cultural traditions as other headdresses).

The warbonnet is particular to and sacred for the Great Plains Indians, including the Sioux and Cheyenne. It was only adopted by other tribes in the late 1800s to appeal to tourists, who expected American Indians to wear this type of headdress.

Warbonnets were exclusively worn by men, usually chiefs and warriors. They symbolized authority and power and were reserved for only the most highly respected of men. Even when women in these tribes were warriors or chiefs, they did not wear the warbonnet.

When a man had earned enough eagle feathers, he could make and wear a warbonnet. Use was predominantly ceremonial, as they were uncomfortable and cumbersome to wear in battle. They were made with feathers, often intricately interwoven and decorated with items like ermine skins and beads. Golden Eagle feathers were often used, and the warbonnet carried a lot of symbolism and status for the wearer. Feathers were given for acts of courage or worn by chiefs and medicine men; the more feathers a bonnet contained, the more accomplished its wearer was."

(https://welcomenativespirit.com/blogs/blog-posts-for-native-american/native-american-headdresses-sacred-to-culture)