Intro to Native American Games for Kids

[Okwes]

Introduction to Native American Games for Kids

All the Native American games presented on this site, have been
played in our land for untold generations, while traces of the
articles used for them have been found in the oldest remains on this
continent. According to Dr. Stewart Culin, the well-known authority
on Native American and other games, "There is no evidence that these
games were imported into America at any time either before or after
the conquest. On the other hand they appear to be the direct and
natural outgrowth of aboriginal institutions in America." Dr. Culin
calls attention to the reference to games in the myths of the various
tribes. Among those of the Pueblo people mention is made of the
divine Twins who live in the east and the west, rule the day and the
night, the Summer and the Winter, "Always contending they are the
original patrons of play and their games are the games now played by
men." (Bureau of American Ethnology, Vol. 24, p. 32.) It would lead
too far afield to follow the interesting relation between ceremonials
and games, a relation that is not peculiar to the culture found on
the American Continent but which obtains the world around. The
environment of man in general outline is much the same everywhere;
the sun ever rises in the east and sets in the west; day and night
always follow each other; the winds play gently or rend with force;
the rains descend in showers or fall in floods; flowers and trees
spring up, come to maturity and then die. Therefore, when man has
questioned Nature as to the why and the wherefore of life, similar
answers have come from all parts of the earth; so it happens that
man's games, which often sportively reflect his serious thoughts,
show a strange similarity.

Native American games that depend upon chance, according to Dr.
Culin, may be divided "into those in which the hazard depends upon
the random fall of certain implements employed, like dice, and those
in which it depends upon the guess or choice of the player; one is
objective, the other subjective." Games of the first or objective
class are generally played in silence, while those of the second or
subjective class, called guessing games, are accompanied by singing.

In a game where the two sides contest, as in a ball game, the sides
were frequently played by two different tribes or by two villages in
the same tribe. In such cases the players often went through a course
of training in order to prepare them for the contest. Bathing,
exercise and diet had to be followed according to prescribed custom.
Among the Cherokee the partaking of rabbit was forbidden, because the
animal is "timid, easily alarmed and liable to lose its wits"; so if
the player ate of this dish, he might become infected with like
characteristics. Mystic rites were sometimes performed to prepare the
player so that he would be successful.

According to the Native American belief, the pleasure of games was
not restricted to mankind but was enjoyed by birds and animals. The
following story from the Cherokee is told by Mr. James Mooney and
quoted by Dr. Culin.

"The animals once challenged the birds to a great ball play. The
wager was accepted, the preliminaries were arranged, and at last the
contestants assembled at the appointed spot—the animals on the
ground, while the birds took position in the tree-tops to await the
throwing up of the ball. On the side of the animals were the bear,
whose ponderous weight bore down all opposition; the deer, who
excelled all others in running; and the terrapin, who was
invulnerable to the stoutest blows. On the side of the birds were the
eagle, the hawk and the great Tlániwã—all noted for their swiftness
and power of flight. While the latter were preening their feathers
and watching every motion of their adversaries below, they noticed
two small creatures, hardly larger than mice, climbing up the tree on
which was perched the leader of the birds. Finally they reached the
top and humbly asked the captain to be allowed to join in the game.
The captain looked at them a moment, and, seeing that they were four-
footed, asked them why they did not go to the animals where they
properly belonged. The little things explained that they had done so,
but had been laughed at and rejected on account of their diminutive
size. On hearing their story the bird captain was disposed to take
pity on them, but there was one serious difficulty in the way—how
could they join the birds when they had no wings? The eagle, the hawk
and the rest now crowded around, and after some discussion it was
decided to try and make wings for the little fellows. But how to do
it! All at once, by a happy inspiration, one bethought himself of the
drum which was to be used in the dance. The head was made of ground-
hog leather, and perhaps a corner could be cut off and utilized for
wings. No sooner suggested than done. Two pieces of leather taken
from the drumhead were cut into shape and attached to the legs of one
of the small animals, and thus originated the bat. The ball was now
tossed up and the bat was told to catch it, and his expertness in
dodging and circling about, keeping the ball constantly in motion and
never allowing it to fall to the ground, soon convinced the birds
that they had gained a most valuable ally. They next turned their
attention to the other little creature; and now behold a worse
difficulty! All their leather had been used in making wings for the
bat and there was no time to send for more. In this dilemma it was
suggested that perhaps wings might be made by stretching out the skin
of the animal itself. So two large birds seized him from opposite
sides with their strong bills, and by tugging and pulling at his fur
for several minutes succeeded in stretching the skin between the fore
and hind feet until at last the thing was done, and there was the
flying squirrel. Then the bird captain, to try him, threw up the
ball, when the flying squirrel, with a graceful bound, sprang off the
limb and, catching it in his teeth, carried it through the air to
another tree-top a hundred feet away.

"When all was ready the game began, but at the very outset the flying
squirrel caught the ball and carried it up a tree, then threw it to
the birds, who kept it in the air for some time, when it dropped; but
just before it reached the ground the bat seized it, and by his
dodging and doubling kept it out of the way of even the swiftest of
the animals until he finally threw it in at the goal, and thus won
the victory for the birds."

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