Games
Games of Chance
Games of chance can be divided into two types, those involving guessing and those using a type of dice that are thrown to obtain a random score. Guessing games consisted of either hiding an object or guessing numbers. Games of chance use dice displaying a variety of decorations and made from materials such as bone, walnut shells, peach and plum stones, grains of corn, shell, and pottery disks. Score was usually kept with sticks or twigs. Over 130 tribes were ethnographically recorded during the 1800's as having played dice games. Both men and women participated in guessing games and games of chance, however not together.
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Moccasin Game(Ojibwa, Iowa, Shawnee, Cree, Sauk & Foxes, Menominee, Ho-Chunk, Omaha, Oglala & Yankton Dakotas) This game, sometimes called the hidden ball game, was played by two groups of men. The players sat opposite each other on a blanket. Four moccasins were placed in a row between the two groups. One of the groups watched as a token or ball was hidden under one of the moccasins by the other group. The players made pretenses of hiding and removing the token in an effort to make it more difficult to discover the actual location of the token. The group watching then guessed under which moccasin the token had been hidden. The Ojibwa, Ho-Chunk, and Menominee used a "striking stick" to turn over the moccasin where they thought the token was hidden. If the player guessed the correct shoe, four points were scored while four points were subtracted if the wrong shoe was picked. Sticks were used to keep track of the score. Top: Moccasin game with Jim Eagle, David Hill, Jim
DohoHok, Frank Ro and Frank Eagle Smith.
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Stick Games(Ojibwa, Cree, Sauk & Foxes, Teton Dakota, and Omaha) One type of guessing game used small wooden sticks that were carved or painted with bands of color. The number of sticks varied from ten to more than a hundred and were divided into two bundles. The object was to guess the location of an oddly carved or painted stick. Another version would have involved guessing which bundle of sticks had more than the other. Illustration of stick game pieces.
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Plum Stone Game(Omaha and the Hidatsa, BrulÁ, Santee, Oglala, Teton, Wahpeton, Sisseton, Yankton, and Mandan of the Dakotas) (Dice games were played by Ojibwa, Blackfeet, Pawnee, Sauk & Foxes, Cheyenne, Cree, Crows, Menominee, Illinois, and Iowa) This type of dice game was played by a variety of tribes. The game was usually played by women in pairs. The game materials consisted of five plum stones with markings to indicate point value, a bowl or basket and 100 sticks or twigs for counting. The object of the game was to win the most points out of the 100. The game started when players lightly tossed the stones upward using the bowl. The toss was light enough to move all the stones but not violent enough to make them fall out of the bowl. Any stones that did fall outside the bowl did not count. The player continued to toss the stones until no points were earned, then the next person took her turn. Top: Replicas of plum stone game pieces. |
