Post by Okwes on Feb 6, 2008 11:05:58 GMT -5
Saving a tradition
Crowd plays Navajo Shoe Game at Coyote Canyon
While playing The Shoe Game, Nelson McCabe points to empty shoes on his
teams own side, while consulting teammates on which shoe he should pick
on
the opposing team's line up of shoes. If the correct shoe with the
yucca
root is picked, the two opposing teams reverse their roles in the game
play.
One team hides a small piece of the yucca root while the other teams
searches for it. [Photo by Daniel Zollinger/Independent]
By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau
Nelson McCabe makes trips between the opposing sides during the shoe
game
Saturday evening during the show game at Coyote Canyon Chapter House.
While
making the passes, McCabe passed by the bucket that held the bet money
and
the game's currency of yucca shoots. [Photo by Daniel
Zollinger/Independent]
COYOTE CANYON — With time running out to play the Navajo Shoe Game,
chapters
around the Navajo Nation have been hosting the game before Feb. 2 when
the
winter game is no longer played.
On Saturday, the Coyote Canyon land use planning committee held its
first
community shoe game of the
At least 70 people showed up to participate in the traditional game.
Two sides are chosen to represent the day animals to the north and the
night
animals to the south.
Sally Begay told a brief story about how the shoe game started long ago
before the playing began.
The story goes that the animals and birds played the shoe game to
determine
if it would always be day or always be night. Neither side won and that
is
why today there is both day and night.
Begay noted that in different parts of the reservation, the stories
vary
slightly.
Alice Nez brought her daughter and two granddaughters from Shiprock to
see
the game before winter ends.
“I wanted to show my grandkids what the shoe game is.
They don’t really know,” she said. “I want for them to learn
something about
tradition. They like to know.”
While Nez herself said she only went one time before, she didn’t
hesitate to
take her granddaughters to the Coyote Canyon Chapter House on Saturday
evening, even though she was tired from work.
Her granddaughter Seanabah said she had played the shoe game in first
grade
but could not remember much about it.
As people began showing up, four pairs of boots were brought in — two
for
each side — to hide a ball made from yucca inside. Each side filled
their
boots up with dirt and half buried them in dirt piles.
After a toss to determine who will go first, the night side got the
ball and
hid it. The day side took turns guessing which boot the yucca balls was
placed in.
During the game, each side sings animal songs as a way to distract the
players.
Lorena Brown, a CLUP member, said that they were putting on the
activity for
the elderly.
“A lot of elderly were asking me how come we haven’t had one this
year. They
miss it,” she said.
It wasn’t only the elderly who were enjoying the game. A young girl
sat by
her grandfather on the night side singing songs and helping to play the
game
“This is barely my first one this winter,” Samantha Plummer said as
the game
was being set up for another round.
“I learned it in school,” she said. “When my grandpa goes, I
sometimes go.”
Plummer won $1 when the first round ended with the night side winning.
Crowd plays Navajo Shoe Game at Coyote Canyon
While playing The Shoe Game, Nelson McCabe points to empty shoes on his
teams own side, while consulting teammates on which shoe he should pick
on
the opposing team's line up of shoes. If the correct shoe with the
yucca
root is picked, the two opposing teams reverse their roles in the game
play.
One team hides a small piece of the yucca root while the other teams
searches for it. [Photo by Daniel Zollinger/Independent]
By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau
Nelson McCabe makes trips between the opposing sides during the shoe
game
Saturday evening during the show game at Coyote Canyon Chapter House.
While
making the passes, McCabe passed by the bucket that held the bet money
and
the game's currency of yucca shoots. [Photo by Daniel
Zollinger/Independent]
COYOTE CANYON — With time running out to play the Navajo Shoe Game,
chapters
around the Navajo Nation have been hosting the game before Feb. 2 when
the
winter game is no longer played.
On Saturday, the Coyote Canyon land use planning committee held its
first
community shoe game of the
At least 70 people showed up to participate in the traditional game.
Two sides are chosen to represent the day animals to the north and the
night
animals to the south.
Sally Begay told a brief story about how the shoe game started long ago
before the playing began.
The story goes that the animals and birds played the shoe game to
determine
if it would always be day or always be night. Neither side won and that
is
why today there is both day and night.
Begay noted that in different parts of the reservation, the stories
vary
slightly.
Alice Nez brought her daughter and two granddaughters from Shiprock to
see
the game before winter ends.
“I wanted to show my grandkids what the shoe game is.
They don’t really know,” she said. “I want for them to learn
something about
tradition. They like to know.”
While Nez herself said she only went one time before, she didn’t
hesitate to
take her granddaughters to the Coyote Canyon Chapter House on Saturday
evening, even though she was tired from work.
Her granddaughter Seanabah said she had played the shoe game in first
grade
but could not remember much about it.
As people began showing up, four pairs of boots were brought in — two
for
each side — to hide a ball made from yucca inside. Each side filled
their
boots up with dirt and half buried them in dirt piles.
After a toss to determine who will go first, the night side got the
ball and
hid it. The day side took turns guessing which boot the yucca balls was
placed in.
During the game, each side sings animal songs as a way to distract the
players.
Lorena Brown, a CLUP member, said that they were putting on the
activity for
the elderly.
“A lot of elderly were asking me how come we haven’t had one this
year. They
miss it,” she said.
It wasn’t only the elderly who were enjoying the game. A young girl
sat by
her grandfather on the night side singing songs and helping to play the
game
“This is barely my first one this winter,” Samantha Plummer said as
the game
was being set up for another round.
“I learned it in school,” she said. “When my grandpa goes, I
sometimes go.”
Plummer won $1 when the first round ended with the night side winning.