interest and doubtless of definite comparative value; but it is our
intention to note only such points as came readily to notice. Naturally,
many points mentioned under previous heads may be considered as bearing
upon this topic. On approaching the tipi of a stranger, it is proper for
a man to pause some distance away and call out to know if the head of
the family is at home. If he is out and there is no adult male to act
instead, the visitor is upon such information not expected to enter but
may, of course, carry on a conversation with the women on the outside.
When one is acquainted, or where the man is known to be within, he
enters without ceremony and takes a place to his right of the door.
Should the entire side be unoccupied he moves up to a place opposite the
host; should it be occupied he takes the first vacant place. However, a
man’s status and age may make it incumbent upon those seated to make a
place appropriate to his rank.[37] The fire is the dividing point of the
house: hence, to pass between a guest and the fire is very impolite.
Should a man of some importance be smoking, one must not pass between
him and the fire, he may, however, take the pipe in his hands and pass
between it and the smoker. As soon as a male guest enters, the host
begins to cut tobacco and fill a pipe, which when lighted is passed to
the guest, back to the host etc., until it has burned out. Women as
guests usually take places to the left by the wife.
There are a great many observances that partake of taboo rather than
etiquette. These will be discussed elsewhere, but it is proper to
respect all the restrictions of your host’s medicine. The well-informed
are expected to know what bundles the host owns and, of course, the
observances thereto. Thus, the bear must not be named in a tipi when
there are certain bundles, guests seeing these bundles hung up there
must act accordingly and designate the bear, if at all, by some
descriptive terms. Again many men have individual restrictions of the
same sort, all of which are to be respected.
It is a breach to ask a leading question as to one’s personal medicine
or experiences. One may wear an object until it has attracted general
attention and though many are certain that it is a medicine object of
interest, they will not ask about it. It may, however, be hinted at and
a desire for information implied, but the approach must end there. On
the other hand, the owner may speak freely if he so choose. We found no
reason to believe that a man felt any great reluctance to speak of such
things at his own initiative or that he felt under special obligation
not to do so: it is the blunt asking for information that is offensive.
Food should be set before a guest. A visitor, if from a distance, should
receive presents from the host and his relatives. Even now, a Blackfoot
visiting one of the other divisions of his people, returns with horses
and other property. This is, however, a kind of exchange, since his
relatives are expected to do likewise when visited by those befriending
him.
Jesting at the expense of a guest, provided he is not a distinguished
man, is regarded as proper. Oft-times very rude jokes are thus played
upon strangers. A show of timidity or resentment is sure to stimulate
such acts. The usual procedure is for a number of men to gather, some of
whom begin to make indecent remarks concerning the guest while the host
and a few others pretend to speak against such proposals. Further
indignities may be offered but the host prevents the affair from going
too far. We mention this extreme of jesting to emphasize the large place
it plays in Blackfoot social life. Notwithstanding all this, the victims
whatever their rank, are extremely sensitive to such jests.
-----
[37] The ownership of certain medicines may determine the seat. Thus, as
guests, the medicine pipe men are given a seat opposite the host and
must give way to no one. Should they go out for an interval, no one
should occupy the seat. As the penalty will be disease, we have here
what may be considered a taboo.
AMUSEMENTS AND GAMES.
In former times, there was a good deal of merriment in the Blackfoot
camps. We have just characterized some of the jokes often perpetrated
and may mention others strictly for amusement. One Piegan band was noted
for its pranks. One of their favorites was to annoy visitors by a mock
family row. The host would begin a quarrel with his wife and then to
fight. The neighbors would rush in and with mock indignation take the
woman’s part. The result was a general mêlée in which they took care to
fall upon the guest and wallow him about as much as possible without
serious injury.
As a rule, jokes were between band and band. Thus it is related that one
time a band drove off the horses of another and herded them in the brush
near by. Then they innocently offered to join the war party for pursuit.
When all was ready they suggested that they look in the brush as the
horses might have been overlooked. Again, a band dressed one of their
men in white man’s clothes and painted his face black. Then while his
confederates were at the camp of the victim band he came up and in plain
view caught two horses, going off slowly. The confederates were careful
to call attention to it. Some young men pursued but when they were near
the man took aim at them. So they hesitated. Finally, the thief
disappeared over a hill. Then he whipped up, returned by another route
and left the horses in their places again to the confusion of the
pursuing party on their return.
Such pranks afforded amusement to all and served to brighten the life of
the camps.[38] While there were always a number of persons adept at
chaffing and pranks there seems to have been no clown or buffoon, not
even in ceremonies. There were, and are now, certain dances that may be
termed social in which there are features expressly for amusement, but
as these also contain ceremonial features they may be passed by at this
writing. Games, on the other hand, seem to have no ceremonial
associations and may, therefore, be considered under this head. We
shall, however, make a distinction between amusement and gambling. The
first are indulged in by children and youths, rarely by adults.
Children had a great many games similar to those of white children, from
whom they may have been learned. Among these are tag, hide-and-seek,
jumping the rope, stilt-walking, slings, tops, dolls, hobby-horses,
coasting, ball games, shooting contests, racing, and follow-the-leader.
The hobby-horse seems to have been peculiar to girls. A stick was
selected with a natural bend between two parallel ends. A miniature
saddle was sometimes placed in the crook and other trappings added.
Girls coasted on pieces of rawhide, squatting at the rear and holding up
the front with the hands. In summer, this contrivance was used in
sliding down steep hills and cut banks. Boys usually coasted by sitting
on a kind of toboggan made of buffalo ribs lashed to cross sticks,
though they were not averse to using the more comfortable rawhide
sheet.[39] Small boys often played at owning, stealing and tending
horses, using rude images of mud or selected stones of appropriate form.
When buffalo were represented, their foot-bones were usually used. The
buzzer of bone and the bull roarer were known as children’s toys, but
the winged bones of the Teton and the snow snake were not recognized by
our informants. A toy called “whizzing bone,” has not been identified by
us, but was described as a contrivance for throwing. Some of our
informants had seen the cup-and-ball, but rarely among their own people.
[Illustration: Fig. 8_a_ (50-6153c), _b_ (50-6153e), _c_ (6153 f).
Wooden Tops. Length of _a_, 7 cm.]
Top was a favorite game for boys. The wooden top (Fig. 8) is usually
made of birch in the round and varies in length from 11 to 16 cm., in
diameter from 8 to 12 cm. The bark is removed entire or in sections and
the heads marked with nails or paint, partly for ornamentation and
partly for identification. The wood must be well seasoned so as not to
be heavy. The whips have four buckskin lashes about 35 cm. in length and
handles about 75 cm. long. This game is played in soft snow, the object
being to determine who can drive his top over the greatest distance
without interrupting the spinning. The usual stakes are buckskin whip
strings and tops.
[Illustration: Fig. 9 (50-6155g).
A Stone Top.
Length, 8 cm.]
Another top game is played upon smooth ice. The tops are water-worn
egg-shaped pebbles (Fig. 9) about 15 cm. in transverse diameter. The
whips are similar to the preceding except that bark strings are used as
shown in Fig. 10. This is a matter of economy since it is the belief
that the rocks and the ice wear out buckskin strings very quickly and
while the bark strings are also short lived they are easily replaced. In
the game, the rocks are set spinning by whipping and when at high speed
are driven together, the one that stops spinning first loses. In this
game, the players are in pairs.
[Illustration: Fig. 10 (50-6154a).
Top Whip with Lashes
of Bark. Length, 71 cm.]
Sometimes these rock tops are used on hard snow. A shallow trench is dug
which the tops must cross while spinning. A skillful player will whip
his top in such a way that it will jump the trench. However, should it
fail it may be whipped out or thrown out by the hand; if it ceases to
spin, the player loses. The name for top games is approximately,
“knocking it.”
Another boy’s game is with balls of mud stuck on the ends of willow rods
about two meters long. A swing of the rod will drive off such a ball
with great force. If such play becomes a contest, the aim is to see who
can throw the greatest distance.
There are a number of arrow games. The collections contain two sets. One
bow (Fig. 11b) has a peculiar decoration on the back, produced by
cutting away portions of the bark. The other bow (Fig. 11a) is of
similar form but plain. The arrows are in sets of six, of plain
feathered shafts, about 75 cm. long and slightly sharpened. One arrow
with the carved bow has a peculiar head (Fig. 11b). There are also two
grass targets as in Fig. 11a.
[Illustration: Fig. 11 _a_ (50-6148 g, a), _b_ (50-6147 a, c).
Gaming Bows and Arrows. Length of Bow, 97 cm.]
One simple game is opened by a player shooting an arrow into a bank of
earth which in turn becomes the target for all. The one placing an arrow
nearest the target arrow wins all the arrows shot in the round. In a
more complicated game one arrow is set up beside a bank and used as a
target as in the preceding. The boy making the best shot gathers up all
the arrows at the target and shoots them at the grass target (Fig. 11).
Each arrow striking this target is his, otherwise they revert to their
owners. The grass target must be held in the hand grasping the belly of
the bow and the arrow. By a swing of the arms it is tossed forward and
upward and must be hit while in the air to win.[40]
Another game spoken of as the sliding arrows was in favor. No bow was
used, the so-called arrows being but straight slender sticks about 80
cm. long, neither sharpened nor feathered. The set in the collection
contains 39 sticks, 28 of which are plain, 4 burned black at one end and
7 decorated with a spiral burned band. We have no information as to the
significance of these divisions. In the game the players take an equal
number of sticks. They are thrown by hand, poising them on a small heap
of earth. The player throwing the greatest distance, takes all the
sticks thrown. As in other games, the play continues until one has all
the sticks.
[Illustration: Fig. 12 (50-6146). A Wooden Dart. Length, 90 cm.]
The casting of wooden darts, or arrows, is another boys’ game of the
same general type. The set of darts in the collection contains twelve
willow sticks about a meter long and 1.8 cm. in diameter. Each stick is
sharpened at one end and split into quarters at the other, Fig. 12.
These darts are usually decorated and to some are attached tufts of
horse hair. In the game the darts are thrown from the hand. First one is
cast into a clump of bushes and the players in turn cast at it as a
target. The last throw wins the darts. The use of the hair tufts was
explained as an aid to the count; thus, if several darts fell about
equally near the target dart, the one whose hair tuft touched it was
declared the winner.
We secured vague accounts of another game in which arrows were shot at a
bundle of arrows, the best shot taking the bundle.
[Illustration: Fig. 13 (50-6165). The Wheel Game. Diameter, 41 cm.]
The wheel game is played with a netted hoop, strictly for amusement, by
young people. The hoop in the collection is shown in Fig. 13.[41] The
center mesh is called the navel and the open parts of the loops around
the hoop, the teeth. The darts are simple pointed sticks about 80 cm.
long without forks at the end as observed among some other tribes.
Counts are made when the darts pierce the navel or one of the teeth,
according to any value agreed upon by the players. Two persons are
necessary to the game, but there is no maximum limit to the number of
players. The opposing sides take up positions at fifty yards or more. A
player rolls the wheel toward the opposite side, its players casting
darts at it as it passes. Should a count be made the wheel is thrown
back high in the air, the opposing side attempting to catch it on their
darts. Should they in turn make a count, the wheel is thrown back to the
other side, etc. For every failure to count, the wheel is returned by
rolling.
A kind of shinny, called “batting ours,” was played by men, women and
youths. Bats of rough sticks with slightly curved ends were used (Fig.
14). The balls are spherical, about the size of a base ball, composed of
skin covers stuffed with hair. The game is rough and frequently results
in serious injuries. The players are arrayed in two sides. Two lines, or
goals, are placed about 300 yards apart. The players group about the
midway point and the game is opened by tossing the ball into the air.
Each side strives to bat the ball over its own goal.
[Illustration: Fig. 14 (50-6149). A Shinny Stick. Length, 89 cm.]
Another ball game, known as the Cree Women, is played by adults and
youths. A ball is used similar to the preceding, but is tossed from hand
to hand. The players are in pairs. The game is opened by tossing the
ball into the air whence each player strives to recover it. The one who
secures it, then faces his partner and the ball is tossed back and
forth. The other players may use every means to disconcert them except
actual physical interference. When the ball is dropped all rush for it
and the first to secure it, plays with his partner as before.
Wrestling was common among boys and young men. Formal bouts were usually
between two sides. The players sat facing in rows. One side put forward
a man with a challenge to the other. They put forward an opponent. The
victor was then the next challenger until thrown.
A rough game, known as kicking each other, was popular among young men
and boys; the usual way was to form two opposing lines and kick each
other to see which would give way. Another game, known as bear play, was
popular when swimming; boys would unite, seize a boy and toss him into
the deepest water, then scamper away. The victim pursued until a boy was
caught when, at once, the others joined in tossing him into the water.
A children’s game, known as skunk, is a kind of round in which all stand
in line each with hands on the shoulders of his neighbor. The leader
carries a stick of wood, burning at the end, from which he beats sparks
with another stick. The row of children sing and dance without breaking
the line. The leader endeavors to come near the rear of the line so that
the sparks will fly upon the players, they in turn seek to avoid him
without breaking away. While this was a rough game, it was popular.
Boys often amused themselves by placing embers from the fire on a stone
and striking them with another stone. When skillfully done, this gives
off a report like a gun.
-----
[38] For a sketch of the social amusements in Blackfoot camps, see
Grinnell, 185.
[39] Maximilian says of the Mandan that children glided down heaps of
snow “on a board, or a piece of the backbone of a buffalo, with some of
the ribs attached to it,” 445.
[40] Culin, Fig. 505, 391.
[41] An unusual form of this wheel is shown by Culin, 447.
GAMBLING.
Playing for stakes was always a favorite and the games to be described
here were rarely played except in gambling. Gambling is often spoken of
as fighting, or war, and in turn war is spoken of as gambling. This is
reflected in a myth where the players’ scalps were at stake.[42]
_The Hand-Game._ Piaks kaiŏsin, approximately fancy gambling, was in a
way team work, sometimes as many as twenty-five men on a side, band
playing against band or even camp against camp. The outfit consists of 4
hiding sticks, or two pairs, 12 counters and a number of drumsticks for
beating time on lodge poles set up in front of the players. The pair of
hiding sticks are designated as the short and the long, though they are
really of equal length, the one called long being designated by a string
wrapped about its middle. They are about the thickness of an ordinary
lead pencil and about 7 cm. in length. The materials are wood or bone.
The counters are about 38 cm. long, of plain wood sharpened at one end
for sticking up in front of the players. The drumsticks are short clubs
of no definite form. Each side takes a pair of hiding sticks and selects
a man to do the hiding and one to do the guessing, according to their
known skill. Each hiding man, or leader, faces the guesser of the
opposing side and the play begins. The leaders put their hands behind
them and then show their hands when the guess is made. The side guessing
correctly takes one counter and also their opponents’ pair of hiding
sticks. This opens the game. There are now two leaders for the playing
side. They confront the guessers of their opponents. The player’s side
now sings and drums upon the tipi poles, provided for that purpose,
apparently to divert the attention of the guessers. For every failure of
a guesser, the playing side takes a counting stick. Should one of the
leaders be guessed correctly, he gives his hiding stick to his companion
who plays with the four. If the guess is now wrong, he takes one counter
and restores a pair to his companion to play as before. However, should
the guess be correct, the playing side loses the hiding sticks to their
opponents. Thus the play continues until one side has the 12 counting
sticks, or wins.[43]
The songs have a definite rhythmic air but consist of nonsense
syllables. However, jibes and taunts are usually improvised to
disconcert the guessers. The game is very boisterous and, in a way
social, but is never played except for stakes of value, as horses,
robes, guns, etc.
Formerly, this game was often played by members of the All-Comrades
Societies, as the Braves against the Dogs, etc. In such cases the songs
were from their own rituals. The man handling the sticks was sometimes
very skilful in deceiving the guessers. To disconcert him, the opposing
side often counted coup on him. One would recount how he took a scalp,
leap upon the shoulder of the player, grasp his hair, flash a knife,
etc., he, all the while handling the sticks. They might pretend to
capture his blanket or repeat any other deeds they had done in war. The
idea was that if the deed counts were true, the re-counting of them
would give power to overcome the skill of the player. This made the game
noisy and rough, but quite exciting. The players were always skilful
jugglers and regarded as medicine men. The amount of property changing
hands in such gambling was truly astonishing, whole bands and societies
sometimes being reduced to absolute poverty and nakedness. Women may
play the game but with three counting sticks instead of twelve.
_The Wheel Gambling._ For this game, a small wheel about 7 cm. in
diameter is used. The form is precisely like that of the Gros Ventre
shown in Fig. 22, p. 188, Vol. I, of this series. There are two sets in
the Blackfoot collection one of which has six spokes, the other seven.
The spokes are distinguished by beads of different colors or
combinations. For the game a wheel and two arrows are required, there
being but two players. The arrows in the collection have metal points
and are feathered. They are about 85 cm. long. In playing the wheel is
rolled by one of the players toward an obstruction, usually a board,
about 6 m. distant. The two follow it closely and as it falls after
striking the obstruction, try to thrust their arrows under it. This must
be done so that the wheel will fall upon them, not cause its fall. The
count is according to the position of the spokes upon the arrows. The
winner rolls the wheel, the advantage being always with the one who does
this. The counts are usually in multiples of five, values being assigned
to the various spokes by mutual agreement at the opening of the
game.[44] Small pebbles are used as counters, or chips. The betting is
by pledging a blanket for so many pebbles, a knife for so many, etc.
[Illustration: Fig. 15 (50-5408). The Four-stick Game. Length of _a_, 18
cm.]
_The Four-stick Game._ To the Blackfoot this is known as “travois
gambling,” and is played by women. A set in the collection was said to
be of buffalo bone (Fig. 15). The sticks were named six, two, and
snakes; though sometimes designated as twos and snakes, a pair of each.
The detail of the markings varied but followed the same general scheme
in so far that the snakes were always marked with the wave-like design.
They were cast upon the ground or a blanket. Since the opposite sides of
the sticks are blank there are eight faces. The usual count is as
follows: zero two blanks, one snake and _a_ or _b_; 2, two blanks and
two snakes; 4, four blanks; or as they appear in the figure; 6, three
blanks and six (b), or one blank, two snakes and two (a); one blank, six
(b) and two snakes counts nothing but the player may pick up the stick
called six and throw it upon the others to turn them, counting according
to the result. Other combinations give no score. The player continues to
throw so long as the above combinations result; failing, the turn passes
to the next. As a rule, there are but two in the game.[45] The number of
points in a game and the wagers are a matter of agreement between the
players.[46]
Certain games well-known to neighboring tribes were not recognized by
our informants as having been played by the Blackfoot. Among these were
the plum stone, or button dice, the moccasin game, the hoop game, the
102 stick game, the cup-and-ball, the snow snake, ice-gliders, and
winged bones. Most of them had been seen, but in the hands of aliens.
Odd-and-even seems to have been known to the Northern Blackfoot, but was
not in favor.[47] We have found no traces of ceremonial associations
with these games. While mention of the wheel games is made in several
myths, this seems purely circumstantial, except that the Twin-brothers
are credited with originating the netted wheel.[48]
The small spoked wheel of the Blackfoot is practically identical with
that of the Gros Ventre. According to Culin, this beaded type has been
observed among the Crow, Nez Perce, Thompson and Shushwap tribes,
suggesting its origin, if not with the Blackfoot, at least, with some of
their neighbors. The particular form of button used in the Blackfoot
hand-game seems to belong to the west of the Rocky Mountains, to the
coast and southward in the plateaus. The beating upon a pole is found
among the Nez Perce, Kootenai and perhaps elsewhere. While the Gros
Ventre had the Blackfoot names “long and short,” their buttons and
method of play were more like those of the Arapaho. The stick dice
(travois game) when rigidly compared as to form and marking, bear close
parallels among the Gros Ventre. Hidatsa, and Chippeywan with less
correspondence west of the Rockies. On the other hand, the Blackfoot
indifference to seed and button dice tends to class them with western
tribes. Neither the Blackfoot nor the Gros Ventre seem to have used the
large hoop and double darts of the Dakota, Omaha, and Arapaho. Thus, in
a general way, the Blackfoot fall into an ill-defined group comprising
tribes on the head-waters of the Missouri and Columbia Rivers. They seem
on the whole, to incline more toward the Plateau and Shoshone area than
to the Siouan or Algonkin. Of greater interest, perhaps, is our failure
to find any game associated with the stalking of buffalo or any other
ceremony. So far as we can see, all games are to the Blackfoot either
amusement or gambling and a résumé of our account will show that many of
the former also reflect the gambling conception.
-----
[42] Vol. 2, p. 132.
[43] For other brief accounts for the Blackfoot see Grinnell, 184;
Maclean, (b), 56.
[44] See Grinnell, 183; Maclean (b), 55, Maclean, (d), pp. 21276-7;
Culin, 448.
[45] Culin, 56-57.