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.