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INDIAN GAMES AND DANCES 71 |
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back to the starting point several times before the game is finished, which is as soon as one horse has made the complete circuit. Sometimes the players, when very young or unskilled, agree there shall be no killing; but unless there is an explicit arrangement to that effect, killing is understood, and it adds greatly to the interest of the game."
II Plum Stone Game
This game belongs to the second and non-ceremonial class of the games of hazard and is generally played by women. The Omaha type is here given, but it is similar to the game as played by kindred tribes.
Properties. — Five plum stones; a basket or wooden bowl; one hundred counters. The Omaha used stalks of the blue joint grass as counters, but small twigs or sticks will serve.
The plum stones should be carefully cleaned and dried. Two of the stones are burned black on both sides with a hot iron; on one side of each of these stones a crescent is marked, and between the lines of the figure the black is carefully scraped so as to leave a clear design of a new moon on a background of black. On the other side of these two stones a star, four or five pointed, is drawn and all the black within the lines is scraped off, leaving a brown star on a background of black. The other three stones are each burned black all over on one side; the other side is left the natural color of the stones. These stones can be prepared in camp, but the basket or wooden bowl will probably have to be furnished from outside. |
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