Indian Games, Dances & Native Songs - online book

Native American Ceremonials, Sports, and Songs with Sheet Music, Lyrics & Commentary

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INDIAN GAMES AND DANCES               ioi
there are players, the sticks to be about three feet long and crooked over at one end. Each stick should be marked by some design invented by its owner, so that each player can identify his stick.
Directions. — A wide open field is best for this game. Two goals, one at the East, the other at the West. The goals are each made by two posts with a cross piece on top. The path of the ball is East and West.
The officers of the game are: an Umpire, four Guard­ians of the Path. Two of the Guardians of the Path stand at the eastern goal and two at the western goal. The two Guardians at a goal represent the two sides; one wears a yellow streamer or badge, the color of the West; the other wears a red streamer or badge, the color of the East. A red streamer is tied to the goal at the East and a yellow streamer to the goal at the West. It is the duty of the one who wears the color of the goal by which he stands to try and help the ball through the goal when it comes in that direction, and it is the duty of the one who wears the color of the opposite goal to prevent the ball from going through and to send it back into the field or toward the other goal.
The players on the two sides are chosen in the follow­ing manner: The person who is to act as Umpire and to perform the opening ceremony must sit in a circle drawn on the ground, about six feet in diameter, and face either the North or the South. All the sticks are placed before him in a bunch. He is then blindfolded. After that he picks up a stick with each hand and lays down the stick that he has in his right hand on his left side, the stick that he has in his left hand he lays down on his right
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