Raids
The tribe in historic times seems to have been the war-making group. Raiding parties tried to sneak undetected into enemy country and conceal themselves. From their hiding place, they fell suddenly on small unsuspecting enemy bodies, scalping men, killing women and children, and slipping away again with a few prisoners if practicable. Back in the village, captive warriors were bound to a frame of green wood, suspended over a slow fire, and tortured until death released them. Warriors hung the scalps taken upon their cabins as evidence of their prowess. The Illini claimed not to have tortured or burned captives until their men had been taken and so treated by Iroquois raiding parties. On the [war] path warriors carried bundles containing objects sacred to their guardian spirits and invoked them frequently to obtain victory.
Bows and arrows in quivers, hatchets or tomahawks, clubs, and “arrowproof” shields consisting of several layers of buffalo hide were carried on raids. The bow and arrow was considered superior to the gun because it could “fire” more rapidly.