counting coup

Native American practice of demonstrating skill and bravery by touching an enemy, possibly with an ornamented "coup stick", and then escaping.
This is kind of like high-stakes tag, because of course the enemy would rather kill you than let you escape.

Here's a good smattering of facts from http://members.aol.com/jroache/fact019.html:

• The Plains Indians did this
• In battle, and for ceremonies, a "Coup Stick" could be used as a staff to touch living enemy...an ultimate insult.
• Coup was earned for such deeds as killing the enemy, touching the dead enemy, touching the enemy with the hand while he was alive, stealing the enemy's horse, or even being able to touch his tepee.

For further elucidation, I offer a personal account. My family owns a genuine coup stick (BTW, FYI, it's pronounced "COO. COO STIK.") from some unmeasureable time ago. My father told me that amongst Choctaws, it was traditional for young men to head out west into the Ozark mountain area during a time called Oachita - roughly, the Big Hunt (note the "Washita" river in arkansas). But they weren't hunting for food. The point was to sneak up on a fully-armed Osage warrior and bonk him on the head with your coup stick. Having a witness was near-mandatory so that you could both go back home and tell the story and put another bead on your coup stick. It was heartwarming to me to learn that my ancestors went through the same period of adolescent hooliganism that I did.