There are games to which the Indians are fondly attached, which, though
they be only ranked under the head of amusement, are yet constructed in
the same serious manner as their other transactions. Their great parties
are said to be collected by supernatural authority, communicated by
the jugglers; and they are preceded, like their wars and hunts, by a
course of fasting, dreaming, and other means of propitiating fortune.
The favourite game is that of the bone, in which small pieces of that
substance, resembling dice, and painted of different colours, are thrown
in the air, and according to the manner in which they fall, the game is
decided. Only two persons can play; but a numerous party, and sometimes
whole villages, embrace one side or the other, and look on with intense
interest. At each throw, especially if it be decisive, tremendous
shouts are raised; the players and spectators equally resemble
persons possessed; the air rings with invocations to the bones and to
the manitous. Their eagerness sometimes leads to quarreling and even
fighting, which on no other occasion ever disturb the interior of these
societies. To such a pitch are they occasionally worked up, that they
stake successively all they possess, and even their personal liberty; but
this description must apply only to the more southern nations, as slavery
was unknown among the Canadian Indians.
A temporary interval of wild license, of emancipation from all the
restraints of dignity and decorum, seems to afford an enjoyment highly
prized in all rude societies. Corresponding with the saturnalia and
bacchanals of antiquity, the Indians have their festivals of dreams,
which, during fifteen days, enlivens the inaction of the coldest
season. Laying aside all their usual order and gravity, they run about,
frightfully disguised, and committing every imaginable extravagance.
He who meets another demands an explanation of his visions, and if not
satisfied, imposes some fantastic penalty. He throws upon him cold
water, hot ashes, or filth; sometimes, rushing into his cabin, he
breaks and destroys the furniture. Although everything appears wild and
unpremeditated, it is alleged that opportunities are often taken to give
vent to old and secret resentments. The period having elapsed, a feast is
given, order is restored, and the damages done are carefully repaired.