Chippewa Customs

GAMES

114 BURIMU OF AMERICAN 1<~THNOLOGY [BULL. 86 (3) "Medicine" was mixed with water and sprinkled on the clothing of the person to be affected, or was put on the ground where he would come in contact with it. The person would become paralyzed unless someone came at once who had the proper medicine to counteract that which had been used against him. (4) "Medicines" were given to produce insanity in various forms. (5) "Medicine" was given a pretty young woman which would cause an eruption to appear on her face. (6) The skin of an owl was removed, dried, and filled with "medicine ." It was said this was sent through the air to the lodge of the person to be affected. An instance of the sending of an owl skin filled with medicine has been recorded, together with the song which was sung by the Mide when sending the owl.·· It was said that the Indians" could get no food after the owl went to the camp," and that they nearly starved. A recent informant said that many years ago her uncle shot an owI that alighted on the tipi poles. He found it was a dried owl skin and had medicine on its face; then he knew it had been sent to cause starvation in his lodge. He threw the owl skin in the fire and they experienced no harm from it. (g) Antidotes for' evil cml1'1ns.-The Chippewa believed there was an antidote for every evil charm or "bad medicine," and that the affected person could be saved if the person having the proper antidote could be found in time. In this, as in the practice of curative medicine, the knowledge of special plants often was limited to certain individuals. Artemisia g'naplwlodes Nutt. (white mugwort) : The dried flowers of this plant were used to counteract the effect of "bad medicine" placed in a person's path. In using it the person took the coals of hard wood, put the dried flowers on the coals and stood over the fumes in such a manner that his limbs and feet were saturated. It was said that" his legs would swell up if this were not done." It is interesting to note that a fumigation of the head and hands with this herb was performed by those who had cleansed the dead. The herb was also burned in the lodge during a case of contagious disease. GAMES Two classes of games were played by the Chippewa: (1) Games of chance, including the moccasin, hand, plate, snake, and stick games; and (2) games of dexterity, including the bone, bunch of grass, awl, woman's, and la crosse games. (a) Moocasin game.-This game, which is still played by the Chippewa, consists in the hiding of four bullets under four moc00 Bull. 45, Bur. Amer. Ethn., pp. 105, 1.06. DEXSMORE] CHIPPEWA CUSTOMS 115 casms, one of the bullets being marked. The other implements of the game are the "striking sticks" of oak, which are used in " making a guess," and 20 counting sticks made of ironwood. Four men usually play the game, each" hiding" player having a partner who sings and pounds the drum while the opponent guesses the location of the marked bullet. Any number of people may watch the game, placing their wagers on one or the other pair of players.61 As indicated, one player. hides the bullets under the moccasins and his opponent guesses under which moccasin the marked bullet is hidden. A variant of the game, not mentioned in the previous account, is the hiding of the marked bullet in one of the player's hands instead of beneath a moccasin. A" guess" concerning this position is indicated by moistening with the tongue the tip of the guesser's finger, this finger corresponding to the opponent's next which he believes the marked bullet to be hidden. (b) Hand; gllim~.-This game consists in the concealing of two small objects in the hands of a player, the opponent guessing in which hand one or both objects are concealed. The articles used in the hand game are not of an arbitrary sort, but those most frequently used in old times were a " gun worm," a small piece of horseshoe nail wound with string, or a small stone sewed in a bit of cloth. The number of players varied from two to any number, and the score was kept by means of sharpened sticks, which were stuck in the ground beside the players. A slight variation of this game was noted among the Canadian Chippewa who had four possible hiding places for the articles, two in player's hands and two under the edge of a blanket which was laid on the ground. It was customary to play the game with a flint and a gtm worm, the score being made by guessing the position of either article, according to an agreement made before the beginning of the game. A majority of the other games mentioned in this section were played by the Canadian in the same manner as by the American Chippewa.62 (c) Plate garne.-This and the two games next following are forms of dice games. The name of this game shows its relation to the "plum-stone game" of the Plains tribes,63 the word by which the game is designated being bu'gese'win, from buge'smn, meaning "plum," with the termination win. which denotes action. The implements comprise a shallow bowl made of wood and a number of small figures cut from bone. The manner of play consists in tossing 01 See Bull. 53, Bur. Amer. Ethn., pp. 210--213, and Culin, Stewart, Twenty-fourth Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pp. 335-351. 6.Culin, Stewart, Games of the North American Indians, Twenty·fourth Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., Washington, 1907, pp. 267-34$• • 3 Ibid., PP. 97-101. 116 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 86 up the bowl containing the figures, the effort being to have certain of the figures stand upright when the bowl is returned to a quiet position. The set of figures made for the writer (pI. 40, g) comprises five round disks, and others called" men, the sun and a dog." In counting , if a " sun" is upright the count is three, if the men or the dog are upright the count is 10 for each. A score is also made on the position of the round disks, which each count one if falling with the white side uppermost. The keeping of the entire score is complicated. (d) Snake game.-The implements of this game consist of four wooden snakes and several sticks used as counters. (PI. 40, a, c.) The wooden snakes made for the writer were about 10 Inches long and the counters 9 inches long. The snakes were scorched brown on the side which represented their backs; two were unpainted on the reverse side and two had an undulating red line the length of their bodies. The mouths of all were painted red. The counters were five in number if the players numbered less than five; if more than that number were engaged in the game the number of counters was increased to 10. The players were seated around a blanket spread on the ground, the order of playing being from right to left. The manner of play was as follows: The player held four wooden snakes in his right hand and dropped or threw them on the blanket, the score being determined by the position in which they fell. The counters were laid at one side of the blanket until appropriated by the players; when all the counters were in the hands of players a person making a score was entitled to take the counters from the other players. The score was as follows: If all the snakes fell right side up or all fell wrong side up, the player was entitled to one counter and another play. If he scored on his second play he was entitled to a third play. If two snakes fell right side up and two showed the white side without the red line the player was entitled to one counter and another play. If two snakes fell right side up and the other two showed the white side with the undulating red line, the player was entitled to two counters and another play. This was the highest score. If he made the same score on his second play he again received two counters, and if he succeeded in making the same score on his third play he returned the four counters which he then held, giving them to the player who held the one remaining counter and receiving that one in exchange. Thus his score was 6, represented by 5 and 1. (e) Stick game.-The implements of this game resembled those of the snake game and comprised four sticks about 10 inches long and several counters. The sticks were marked with diagonal lines, a sharp hot iron being used for the purpose. (PI. 40, b.) The manner of playing was the same as in the preceding game. DENSMORE] CHIPPEWA CUSTOMS 117 (I) Bone gamw.-Success in this and the four games next following depends chiefly on dexterity. This type of game is characterized by CuEn as the" ring and pin." It is widely distributed among the Indian tribes and is analogous to the well-known European game of cup and ball. Various forms of game implements are illustrated by Culin, including a string of the toe-bones of the deer.64 One of these bones was sometimes used by the Chippewa to give weight to the string of dewclaws. (PI. 41, a.) The implement used in the game consists of the dewclaws of the deer strung on a narrow strip of deer hide, at one end of which is an oval piece of the leather pierced with a number of small holes, and at the other end is a needle-like piece of bone taken from the leg bone of a young doe. Ten is the usual number of dewclaws used in the game, this being the number obtained from one deer. In recent times a brass thimble has been used instead of a bone next the bit of leather, and a darning needle has replaced the sharp bone at the other end. Much of the success of the game depends on the " balance" of the game implement, this being determined by the relative weight of the bones and their order on the string The heaviest bone is placed next the bit of leather. The number of holes in the bit of leather is not arbitrary, but is usually about 25. The vert.ebra of fish are sometimes used instead of dewclaws in making the implement for this game. If a considerable number are to play this game, they are divided into two sides. Each side has a leader who chooses the men who are to play on his side. Before the play begins they decide how many points shall constitute a game and how many points shall be scored by the most difficult play in the game, which is known as " catching the bone next the tail." A player continues his playas long as he scores, passing the game implement to his opponents when he fails to make a score. The manner of play is as follows: A player holds the needle between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand, he then extends his right arm, the needle pointing upward, and the bones falling below his thumb. He then takes the bit of leather in his left hand and draws it backward toward his body until the string of cones is in a horizontal position. With a quick motion of his hands he releases the bit of leather, swings the string of bones forward, and catches one or more of the bones on the needle, the object being to hold a series of bones in an erect position on the needle. The score is as 'follows: To catch the bone next the needle and hold all the bones erect on the needle counts 10; to catch any bone in the .. eulin, (1). cit., Pl'. 527-561. 118 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 86 series and hold only that bone counts 1, the number in every instance corresponding to the number of bones held erect on the needle. To catch the bit of leather secures a score corresponding to the number of holes in the leather, and to catch the heavy bone or the thimble next the bit of leather counts the value decided upon before the beginning of the game. The number of points in a game is frequently 100, though any number may constitute a game. It is said that the score is "shouted by everybody," so there is no need of counters. The games are indicated by sticks placed upright in the ground. (g) BU1VOh of gra88 game.-The game implement is a bunch of grass tied by a short cord to a pointed stick. (PI. 40, e.) The manner of play was similar to the preceding, but less skill was required , as the purpose was simply to catch the bunch of grass on the stick. This game was usually played by women. The material for making the game implement was readily available and the playing of the game was in· the nature of a pastime. A smaller game implement of the same sort was made for the use of children. (h) The awl game.-The implements of this game consist of a ring and a sharp metal point set in a wooden handle, an ordinary awl being commonly used for this purpose. The ring may be made from the leg bone of an animal or it may consist of a narrow strip of basswood bark, firmly wound with thread or with the fine fibers of the bark. (PI. 40, f.) The manner of play is as follows: The ring is laid on the ground and the awl is thrown toward it, the purpose being to have the awl strike inside the ring and stand upright in the ground. (i) Wommn's ga1ne.-Concerning this game Culin says: "The game of double ball throughout the eastern United States and among the Plains tribes is played exclusively by women, and is commonly known as the woman's ball ga.llle.G5 The implements for the game consist of two balls or similar objects attached to each other by a thong, and a curved stick with which they are thrown. The balls vary in shape and material. Among the Cheyenne two small slightly flattened buckskin balls are used. Among the Sauk and Foxes and other Algonquian tribes the balls are oblong, weighted ·with sand, and frequently both, with the connecting thong, are made of one piece of buckskin. As played by the Chippewa, each player has a pair of rather long slender sticks with which she attempts to catch and to carry the two short thick sticks or billets tied together with a thong. The billets are made of heavy wood, oak being commonly used for this purpose. Only the swiftest runners joined in this game, which was played in an open field, often about 300 feet in length, at either ~ Culln, op. cit., p. 647, CIrIPl"EWA CUSTOMS 119 end of which was a "goal stake.~' The players were divided into two sides, each of which had a leader. The play was opened by the leader of one side who tossed the pair of short sticks into the air. All the players rushed forward attempting to obtain it and carry it through the opponent's line to the opposite goal. The score was made by striking the pair of sticks against a goal post, and the side making the score had the privilege of tossing the pair of sticks when the play ,,'as resumed. The implements used by the Chippewa are shown in Plate 41, c. . (j) Lam'o8se gwne.-In this game a ball is tossed with a racket which is made by bending a sapling so as to form a small loop at one end, this loop being filled by a pocket of network. In former times the ball was made by charring a knot of wood and scraping away the charred portion until the ball was of a satisfactory size and shape. A ball covered ,vith deerskin is commonly used. A large number of players take part in the game and are divided into opposing sides. Back of each group of players is a goal consisting of two upright poles and a crossbar. Each player has a racket (or "lacrosse stick") and. his a.im is to catch the ball and carry it to the goal back of his opponents.GG The writer witnessed the playing orthe moccasin gllme, woman's game, and lacrosse at large gatherings of Chippewa. THE INDUSTRIAL YEAR (a) A narrative covering the entire cycle of the year is herewith presented and is followed by a detailed description of the several Chippewa industries, each of which had its appropriate season. The narrator is Nodinens (pI. 42), a member of the Mille Lac Band of Chippewa, who was 74 years old when giving this information. The narrative is given practically in the words of the interpreter. She said: When I Fas yop.ng everything was very systematic. We worke<1 day and night and maCe th," best use of the material we had. My father kept count of the days on II stick. He had a stick long enough to last a year and he always began a new stick in the fall. He cut a big notch for the first day of a new moon and a small notch for each of the other days. I will begin my story at the time when he began a new counting stick. After my mother had put away the wild rice, maple sugar, and other food that we would need during the winter she made some new mats for the sides of the wigwam. These were made of bulrushes which she had gathered and dried. She selected a nice smooth piece of ground and spread them out. I, as the oldest daughter, boiled basswood bark, and made cord, and grandmother made the bone neeelles that we would nse in weaving the mats. When the rushes were ready, we laid a eOI'll on the ground and rneasnrerl the right 00 Culln, op. cit., pp. 562-569. ...