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Meeker, Louis L
1901 Oaglala Games Bulletin: Free Museum of Science and Art 3 (1): 23-46.
OGALALA GAMES Page 23 Ogalala Games
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By Louis L. Meeker
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The Ogalala* (The name Ogalala is from o (ta) "many" and gala "to scatter," the last syllable of which is repeated to form the frequentative. It means "many scattered ones.") Indians of Pine Ridge Reservation are Teton or Titonwan. Since they are among those who use "1" where other Sioux use "d" they are sometimes called Lakota.
They visit with the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Crow, with whom they were formerly associated, and, having once lived in Colorado, they are acquainted with tribes now located much farther south, but all their traditions point to a home far north in ancient times.
Eagle's Nest Camp is located about eighteen miles from the line of the Rosebud Agency, not quite so far from White River on the north, and perhaps fifty miles from Nebraska on the south. It is an isolated camp of full blood Indians. Excepting marriage customs and the occasional killing of one of their own cattle without permission, it is an excellent community, considered as Indians recently savages. The name of the chief is Pute or "Lip." He has examined and approved the games sent herewith. Eagle's Nest Butte, from which the camp is named, is 3,465 feet above sea level, while the surrounding country is 2,700 feet. Radiating for about six miles away toward the river and surrounding creeks are" bad land" canons as much deeper than the prairie as the Butte is higher. The Butte can be seen for, perhaps, fifty miles. The Golden Eagle nests on the inaccessible brow of Eagle's Nest Rock, of the same height as the Butte, but separate from it.
MEN'S GAMES. The implements consist of a hoop rather more than two feet in diameter, cangleska (Fig. 1), bent into shape and fastened when
THE GREAT HOOP GAME, Painyankapi.
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green, and two pairs of throwing sticks, painyankapi (Fig. 2) about forty inches in length, wrapped with thongs, by which each pair is loosely coupled together, so that in the middle they
are about a span apart. Each pair bears a small flag, blue or black on one pair, and red or yellow on the other.
The hoop is made of a straight ash stick, 1 1/4 inches in diameter at the largest end, and is "as long as the tallest man." The hoop bears four flattened spaces on each side, at equidistant points. (Fig. 3.) Two players, representing two sides,
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throw the two pairs of sticks at the hoop as it rolls past, and the counting is according to the marked or flattened space that lies upon the javelin after the hoop falls. The first mark from the junction a is called the "butt" or "stump" (can huta), and counts 10; the next, b, is "black " (sapa), and counts 20; the next, cc, the "fork" (okaja), counts 10, and the next, d, called "marks" (icazopi), counts 20. When the stick falls across the "butt" and the " fork," it is called "sweepstakes." The game is for 4o points. Panyankapi was sometimes called the "buffalo game.'' It is said to have been played to secure success in the buffalo hunt. The hoop figuratively represents the horns of a buffalo and the bone that supports them.
Playing the game is called "shooting the buffalo." Again the hoop represents an encampment of all the Dakota tribes,
and the chief's family learn to locate all different tribes upon it. Or it was supposed to represent the rim of the horizon and the four quarters of the earth.
The spaces marked are the openings or passes into the circle of the camp. They also represent the four winds and are invoked as such by the thrower before he throws.
In time of much sickness the camp was ranged in two columns, the hoop painted black on one side and red on the other, the sticks painted, two red and two black, and the hoop rolled between the two ranks four times and then carried away and left in some remote place to bear away the sickness. It was rolled "toward the whites," i.e., south.
The Lakota word for hoop is cangleska. It means "spotted wood." No other term for hoop is in use. It follows that the hoop for which all other hoops are named, was spotted. This
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applies especially to the conjuror's hoop, colored in yellow*, (*FN The yellow is always placed north, but the other colors vary. Note the identity of the words for yellow and north: North is waziyata; yellow is zi. Waziya is the Spirit of the North, the Storm Spirit, and ruler of all things except the hosts of the deep. The term is frequently given to Santa Claus) red, white and blue or black as is convenient, to represent the four quarters of the earth. This hoop is laid upon the ground in the medicine lodge, and after necessary ceremonies, the lights are extinguished, when a noise of eating is heard, and a ring cut from a ripe pumpkin, previously placed within the hoop for the purpose, is supposed to be devoured by the Wasicun* (*FN The term Wasicun, now universally given to white men, means a superior and mysterious being) conjured up by the ceremonies.
The Elk Game, Kaga woskate, OR Haka heciapi.
A ring of sinew wrapped with a thong, about four inches in diameter (Fig. 4), is tossed in the air and the player tries to catch it upon his stick (Fig. 5). This is about four feet long,
fitted with semicircles, arcs and cross bars, wrapped with sinew, bark or cloth. It is held in the hand with the forefinger pres-
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ing against a small projection that the best made sticks bear near the centre. Caught upon the point, it counts 10; if on the spur nearest the point, 5; On any other point, 1. The game is for any number of points agreed upon by the players. The Elk Game was played to secure success in the elk hunt.
The Lakotas use a special hair ornament as a reward for victory in this game. The Cheyenne award it to the victor in the game next described. This ornament (Fig. 6) is a miniature gaming hoop or wheel (tohogmu), as small as the maker can make it well, with "spokes" like a wheel, ornamented with porcupine quills and tied to a small lock of hair on one side of the crown by a buckskin string fastened to the centre of the ornament.
The Buckskin-Hoop, Tahuka cangleska
Played with several small hoops about a foot in diameter, woven with buckskin thongs, with one opening more prominent than the rest, intended to be in the centre, called the "heart" (Fig. 7.) The game is to thrust a small spear (Fig. 8), with a fork at one end to admit the tip of the forefinger, through the "heart," as the hoop is rolled by or flung into the air. When one succeeds, he chases the one who threw the hoop, and endeavors to hit him with it. The one who oftenest pierces the "heart," wins. This is said to be a Cheyenne game, played, like the other hoop games, only at the annual summer gatherings, camp against camp, from morning until a crier calls noon, when the victorious camp is feasted by the losers, and the individual victor adorned with the hair ornament, good for one year.
The writer has not witnessed the game played in this way, a rain preventing when arrangements were made. The following, however, played by large boys and young men, he has seen as many as fifty times: Two forked sticks, about four feet high, to represent men, were set up, thirty or forty paces apart. A prop was placed across, from one foot to the other, both to make them stand erect and make them easier marks.
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Properly, the forks should not be more than an inch or so in diameter at the point, and should be split up for a few inches with a cross stick in the splits, so as to make four points come
in contact with the ground, and a stick for the hoop to strike, if it rolls under. Two companies, stationed a very little in front and a little to one side of each "man" , take turns rolling the hoops by throwing them against the ground, to make them roll towards the
"man" on the opposite side, the players of which defend their "man" by thrusting their spears' through the rolling hoops. The side is victorious that oftenest knocks down the "man." The player is victorious who oftenest pierces the heart of the hoop, so the victorious player may not be on the victorious
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side. My informants do not count this game with their regular hoop games, nor take any pride in the Buckskin-hoop generally. It was contributed by a full blood Lakota, but definite knowledge of the manner of playing cannot be obtained here.
The name tahuka cangleska means "neck-hoop" rather than "deerskin-hoop," though it may have the latter meaning, as my informants affirm.
Women say taoga cangleska instead of tahuka cangleska. This would mean "web hoop" game and make it sacred to Inktomi (the Spider). Women's speech is somewhat different from men's.
The makers of the hoops for the hoop games are not selected at random. "White-buffalo-cow River," Pte-sa Wakpa, makes hoops for the "Buffalo game." "Red hoop," Cangleska luta, makes the hair ornament hoop.
The hoops sent herewith were made by these men and by "Crazy Horse," Ta-sunk-witko, brother of the desperado Crazy Horse who lost his life while a prisoner some years ago.
The Guessing Game, Hanpapecu, i.e., Moccasin Game
A small bit of horn (Fig. 9) is concealed in one or the other of one player's hands, and the otherplayer guesses which hand; or, the same object is concealed in one of two, three, or four moccasins, and the other player guesses which one contains the horn. Should he have doubts, he can draw the game by guessing which does not contain it, and guess on the remaining two for a chance for the next play.
Two sharpened sticks of cedar, cuwinyawa, (Fig. 10), one of the light sapwood, the other of dark heart wood, are held by the guesser, though but one is his. If he uses his own to pull a moccasin toward him, he means that the object concealed is in it. If he uses his partner's stick he pushes the object from him, indicating that the object is not concealed in that moccasin.
The counters are sticks (Fig. 11), sometimes used to play odd or even.
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Recently this game became so popular upon the Pine Ridge Agency it was necessary to prohibit it entirely.
The moccasin player observes certain physiognomical signs which lie regards as indicating which of the moccasins contains the bit of horn or "bullet." The Ogalala dialect contains a long list of words like our smile, sneer, squint, frown, etc., applied to the twitching of the muscles of the limbs as well as to those of the face. It is said that English will not express
all or even the greater part of these terms. They seem to have arisen from the necessities of the game.
Men also once played a javelin game, Hutanacuta, with a simple straight stick.
I am creditably informed that the Ogalala agreed to abandon their games in a treaty with General Sherman in 1868. This accords with Pte-sa Wakpa's statement that he made the Painyankapi thirty years ago. Some say Sherman's treaty stopped the field games* (*FN said at Eagle's Nest Camp). Others say they were superseded by
the Ghost Dance, and never again used at the great gatherings* (*FN Said at Pine Ridge Camp).
At present, the hoop games are played only by elderly Indians, at the request of white men. The other games are practiced quite commonly in remote settlements.
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WOMEN'S GAMES
The Game of Shinny, Takapsica
The implements consist of a bent stick, resembling a walking stick or umbrella handle and a buckskin ball (Fig. 12). Many players form two companies and strive to take the ball with their sticks to two different goals in opposite directions. First play is decided by kicking the ball up into the air. The one who can do so oftenest without letting the ball or the foot
touch the ground plays first. This is a separate game with the Winnebago.
Shinny is played by women, large girls and school boys. The women of one camp will play against the women of another camp. The boys and girls of one school will play against another school, for, although not quite up to the dignity of men, the game is scarcely limited to women.
Plumstone Game, Kansu
Played like dice. Each spider (Fig. 13) counts 4, each lizard 3, and each turtle 6. There is a connection between the native term for spider (inktomi) and the number four (topa or tom). The turtle presents six visible members when it walks.
An old woman here has plumstones marked with the above signs and also with a face, a thunderhawk and a bear track.
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She has three sets of three pairs each. The third set bears a buffalo face on one and marks that represent the pickets of a buffalo-surround on the others. These were used only to secure success in the buffalo hunt. The wagers were sacrifices.
The Deer-Bone Game, Tasiha Four ankle bones of a deer or antelope are strung on a buckskin string with ten loops at one end, and a "thruster" made at present of wire, about four inches long, and pierced at one end, at the other end of the string. (Fig. 14).
The bones are sometimes pierced with many small holes. The strand is swung in the air and the wire is thrust into one of them, counting from one to four in order, or as many as the number of loops passed through. Some number five or six bones on one string.
BOYS' GAMES.
Grizzly Bear Game, Mato woskate
Two dagger-like sticks (Fig. 15) are held in the hands like two daggers, but represent bear's claws. One or more boys have the claws. The others have "houses" one stick high.
The bear cannot go over a stick, but may go under if he can lift it without using his hands, i. e., with his head. To do this he digs with the wooden claws like a dog, and while he digs the man runs and the bear gives chase. The game is for the bear to touch a man with the claws, when the man touched must take them and be a bear in exchange with the former bear, who becomes a man.
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WOOD SHINNY, Can takapsica
A block of wood, cut from a seasoned stick about three inches in diameter, is laid upon the ground. Two players, armed with sticks having a natural enlargement on one end (Fig. 16) each paces off fifty steps in opposite directions, and each marks his opponent's goal. Giving the word to each other, they race back to the block of wood, the one who
wins placing his foot upon the block to take possession. He then deliberately aims and strikes the block with all his force toward his goal, and both race after it to take possession with the foot and strike it again as before.
Whip Top, Can wakiyapi Players contend ground for position in a square marked on the the ground, or on ice. The game is to whip the top (Fig. 17) into the square and keep it there. On ice, a square is marked,
and each player starts his top outside the square, each trying to whip his top inside. When one succeeds, he holds the square while he keeps his top there and spinning. Should the top fall or run outside the ring, the others press in. The tops are rudely shaped from hard wood sticks, one and a half to two inches in diameter. Some are burned, others are cut into shape. They are painted with concentric bands of red, blue and yellow, if the coloring is obtainable.
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A common toy is a bone buzz, Hohuh yuhmunpi (Fig. 18). Ogalala boys also play with a whizzer, tateka yuhmunpi (Fig. 19), consisting of a slip of thin wood attached by a thong to a stick like a whipstock. It is made to hum when whirled in the air so as to describe a circle.
Boys throw sticks tipped with horn, Pte heste (Fig. 20), against the ground underhand to glance forward a great distance. The one whose stick goes farthest takes all the other sticks. They also throw a feathered bone (Paslo hanpi) on the ice. This implement (Fig. 21) consists of a piece of beef rib, with two feathers stuck on pegs in one end.
Lakota boys make mud balls and put them on the end of their throwing sticks to fight sham battles.
A lesser game of battle is played with the heads of a bearded grass or weed (wica peca) or "man-sticker grass," made into a ball with a little moistened clay. The stems serve for a handle. They do not always throw and girls sometimes participate. This is varied by spitting rotten wood or dried leaves, chewed fine upon each other. Boys have toy bows, Hoksila itazipa (Fig. 22). They play at duels and the targets for archery are arrows, cactus plants, moccasins, or the dead body of a small animal.
Most Indians have some sort of a sling, and the boys use them to throw stones a great distance, but they seldom throw them at a target.
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They also make wooden pop-guns, Epahoton (Fig. 23), with which they shoot wads of elm bark.
A snow man is a snow-ball target. A bush with many branches is cut, the ends of the branches cut off, the large end stuck in the ground and the whole hung with old hats, moccasins, cups or other worthless objects, for target for small stones or clods.
Snow shoes are known, and used in sport by large boys and men. Coasting is enjoyed on a piece of wood or bark like a barrel stave with rein tied to one end which they hold standing erect with one foot advanced and the rein drawn tight for support.
Foot-racing, rough-and-tumble wrestling," teetering" astride of a bent bush, bathing, diving, swimming and climbing are known and practiced, but in no regular forms.
I never heard an Indian boy or girl whistle, except when taught to do so. They talk in company and are still when alone.
They have a practice of stopping the circulation in one hand by grasping it firmly around the wrist with the other hand. Then by moving the fingers and stroking against the body they make it look like the hand of a corpse. Sometimes when sick they do this and predict death or recovery from the time it takes for the hind to assume a natural appearance. These predictions are generally correct. All Indians seem to practice it.
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Girls' Games
Girls throw long sticks tipped with horn, Winyanta paslo hanpi. The sticks (Fig. 24), held by the extreme end with forefinger behind, are cast high in the air. The game is played for small sticks about the size of lead pencils, or larger, the same as are used for counters by men in the Moccasin Game.
The girls make dolls of corn husks, buckskin, and at present, of cloth and beads. Both boys and girls make clay figures of
horses, cattle, dogs, men and other objects.* (*FN Men cut images of pipe stone and call them "stone devils." They are used in conjuring the sick and in recovering lost or stolen property. One was consulted here a year ago. The sick person was to recover in four days if the "power" was obtained. On the fourth day she died. ). They also make elaborate toy tents or tipis.
The following account describes the games and sports of the boys and girls of an Ogalala camp in the summer of 1900, played for the writer's benefit:
About four o'clock in the afternoon all the boys and girls assembled at the house or tent nearest the chosen playground. When the last one arrived the game began by seeing who will get there first," in which all the boys ran while the girls followed in more leisurely. The boy who was next to the largest
won the race, but there is reason to believe this was prearranged. The largest did not wish to be first.
When the girls arrived, the winner of the race "went to the centre," and the others joined hands in a circle, singing, "'Ho-wi! Ho-wi! Ho-wi!" Though now consisting of meaningless syllables, the song is, perhaps, an ancient address to
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Page 37 currently missing.... to be supplied later.....
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the girls had lost their "houses," and even then the game continued some time.
Suddenly the Chief cried Ho-oh ho! Ho! or some equally sonorous syllables equivalent to the Oyez! of a court crier. The girls had scattered somewhat in anticipation of what was to follow, the game of "Kill the Cow" (Ptegleska woskate). The boys all gave attention and called Kill the Buffalo! Kill the Buffalo! Kill the Buffalo! Kill the Buffalo !" All the girls dropped down upon the ground, and the last to drop would have been the "buffalo," but, in this instance, one girl dropped at the third cry, so she was the "buffalo." (Four cries are necessary.) The other girls surrounded her and "skinned the buffalo," by taking hold of the lower edge of her outer garment with both hands at different points, lifting up and pulling outward until the poor "buffalo" was suspended in the air with her extremities kicking about in a vain search for support, presenting a ludicrous spectacle. They lifted her four times and then deposited her on the ground to all appearances dead. The Chief then divided her up, giving the head to one, one leg to another, and so on until each was provided with a part, and had taken possession of his own. The "buffalo" remained dead as long as she could in the hurly-burly that followed, but at length this scene was over. The girls all hurried to the nearest house and the boys followed more leisurely, as prearranged.
When the boys arrived the girls were all hidden and a game of "Hide and Seek" (Inahme kiciyapi) followed, until the girls were all found. The boy who finds a girl claims her as his partner for the evening, but in this instance all the boys found all the girls together, smothered under an old quilt, behind a pile of tents, wagon covers and blankets. The company then separated, all playing "Tag or Last Touch" (Okicu) with those who lived at that house and at each house in order in the entire camp.
After supper the Buffalo Girl donned her brother's buckskin clothing, pasted her face with mud made of whitish clay, and went the rounds of the camp, frightening the little children and collecting the crowd of players once more-" Ghost play" (Wanagi kiciyapi). At the last house, when all were together, they played "Hand-pinching" (Hosispa), each pinching up a
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fold of skin on the back of another's hand with the thumb and forefinger until all hands were connected in a chain that flapped curiously as it was alternately stretched and shortened until at length it broke. If the one who permitted it to break had a forfeit to pay, it did not appear on this occasion.* (*FN The game of "Tramping the Beaver" (Capa woskate) should have been played immediately after the "Hand-pinching," but it was growing so late that it was omitted at this time.
A boy likes down and is covered with a blanket that extends beyond his person, and the other boys stand on the edge around him. His head is covered, but his hands are out, and he holds his thumb close to the forefinger on each hand, so as to resemble a beaver's foot. The boys sing and step, sometimes with one foot on the beaver, who tries to touch and name correctly the boy who traples upon him. When this is done and the boy touched and named becomes the beaver in turn. Old beaver dams are still visible. A few beavers are yet to be found. The killing of beaver was, to a great extent, the work of old men and boys, and "trampling on the beaver" was played after feasting on beaver's tail.)
The boys then took their leave, but most of them found the girls had taken a glove or handkerchief or other article belonging to them. Each boy guessed who had his property; but if he could not find it, he must call on the girl for it next morning.
The girls went home. The boys lay on the grass till sure all the camp was asleep. Then each crept around every open window or door, or tent, the edge of which could be raised, and "touched "the person of a sleeper. If a girl, she giggled. If it proved to be her parent, he or she did not giggle. The boys compared notes and went to bed.
CATALOGUE.
The following implements for the games described have been presented to the Museum of Science and Art by Mr. Meeker. The numbers refer to the museum catalogue.
Implements for the Great Hoop Game, Painyankapi
21,945. Hoop of sapling (cangleska), 25 inches in diameter, (Fig. 1) marked with incised marks on both sides as shown in Fig. 3. The first, a, nearest the junction consists of three incised rings, painted red; the next, b, is cut on both sides for about 1 1/4 inches and marked with black burned scratches;
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the third, cc, has a cut on both sides marked on one with a cross and on the other with a single notch in the middle, the faces being painted red; the fourth, d, is cut with a similar flat face on both sides, 1 1/4 inches in length, with five transverse equidistant notches, all painted red.
21, 945. Four rounded sticks (painyankapi), 39 1/2 inches in length, slightly larger at the butt, wrapped with thongs, as shown in Fig. 2, and held in pairs with thongs, 11 inches in length. One pair has the butts painted red and a small strip of red flannel tied to the connecting thong, and the other has black butts, with a blue flag. Made by Pte-sa Wakpa, "White-cow River."
Implements for the Elk Game, Kaga woskate
22,109. Ring of sinew wrapped with a thong, 3 1/2 inches in diameter, painted red (Fig. 4).
22,110. A stick, 39 1/2 inches in 1ength, the end lashed with a curved piece of sapling with the points turning toward the handle (Fig. 5). Two bars of wood, 11 1/2 inches in length, are lashed across the stick, each with a smaller piece of curved wood with points turning toward the handle, as shown in the figure. The curved piece at the end and the body of the stick are wrapped with a thong and the bars, arcs and exposed end of the stick are painted black. There is a projection above the cross-bar, nearest the end to which the curved piece is affixed, against which the forefinger is pressed. A small square of black cloth is tied to the curved end of the stick.
22,110a. A stick similar to the preceding, 36 inches in length, but painted red instead of black, and with a red instead of black flag (Fig. 5). The ends of the arc at the tip are united to the body of the stick by a cord of sinew. The crossbars are 6 1/4 inches in length. Made by Ta-sunk Witko "Crazy Horse."
21,942. Hair ornament (tahogmu), consisting of a ring of bent twig, wrapped with colored porcupine quills, 2 1/4 inches in diameter, with internal cross and thongs for fastening (Fig. 6). Worn as a token of prowess in the Elk Game. Made by Cangleska Luta. "Red Hoop."
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Implements for the Bucksin Hoop Game
Takuka cangleska.
22,111. Hoop of sapling, 11 1/2 inches in diameter, lashed with a network of rawhide thong which is passed around the hoop twenty- four times.
22,112. Another 11 1/2 inches in diameter the thong passing around the edge thirty-five times (Fig. 7). Both hoops have edge and thong net smeared with red paint.
22,113. A forked stic,) consisting of a peeled sapling, 46 inches in length, painted red, with a feather tied at the ends of the forks (Fig. 8). Made by Pte-sa Wakpa, "White-cow River."
Implements Used in Guessing Game, Hanpapecu
or "Moccasin Game."
22,114. A piece of shaved horn, nearly round, 3/8 inch in diameter and 1 7/8 inches in length (Fig. 9).
22,115. Two sharpened sticks of cedar, 8 1/2 inches in length, one light and the other dark (Fig 10) Made by Pte-sa Wakpa, "White-cow River."
22, 116. Bundle of twelve sticks (cuwinyawa), peeled saplings, painted red, 15 inches in length (Fig. 11), used as counters in Moccasin Game and in playing " Odd and Even." Made by Pte-sa Wakpa, "White-cow River."
Implements for the Game of Shinny, Takapsica.
22,117. Stick made of sapling, 39 inches in length, bent at the end by fire (Fig. 12).
22, 118. Buckskin covered ball, 2 1/2 inches in diameter, the cover made of a single piece and sewed with sinew (Pig. 12). Made by Cee Wanju, "Quiver."
Implements for Plumstone Game, Kansu
22,119. Set of six: dice made or plum stones, polished, with incised and burned marks (Fig. 13). Two are marked on one face with a spider and on the reverse with a longitudinal line with three cross marks; two with a lizard, with three transverse marks on the reverse, and two with undetermined marks, as shown in Fig. 13, the reverses being plain, Made by Winyanhopa, "Elegant woman."
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22, 120. Basket (tampa), 8 1/2 inches in diameter, having the bottom covered with a disc of hide (Fig. 25).
22,121. Wooden cup (tamp), 3 5/8 inches in diameter and 2 inches deep. Model such as would be used by a. child (Fig.
26). Made by Matoyaslowin, "Whistle Bear Woman." The game is now played principally with tin cups and pans.
Implements for Deer-Bone Game, Tasilia.
22,122. Six: phalangeal bones of deer, strung on a thong, 11 inches in length, with a brass needle, 5 inches in length, attached to one end, and seven loops of glass beads at the other (Fig. 14). Total length, 19 inches. Made by Winyanhopa, "Elegant woman."
Implements for Grizzly Bear Game.
22,123. Two dagger-like sticks, 11 1/4 inches in length (Fig. 15). Made by Si Hoksila, "Benny Brown." Page 43 Ogalala Games
Implement For Wood Shinny, Can takapsica.
22, 124. Knobbed stick, made of a sapling) 36 inches in length (Fig. 16). Made by Si Hoksila, "Benny Brown."
Whip Tops, Can wakijyapi.
22,125 a and b. Wooden tops (2), rudely cut from a sapling, 1 3/4 inches in diameter at top and 2 5/8 and 3 inches in length. One painted yellow with red centre on top and beveled edge at top blue. The lower pointed end is painted red and yellow. The other is painted blue on top, with beveled edge red and pointed end yellow and red (Fig. 17).
22,125 c. Wooden top, similar to preceding, but unpainted, 1 1/2 inches in diameter and 3 inches in length (Fig. 17).
22, f 25 d. Whip, consisting of a stick, 17 inches in length, with a lash made of hide, cut in three thongs, attached with sinew (Fig. 17). Made by Si Hoksila, "Benny Brown." 22,126. Bone Buzz (hohouh yuhmunpi), consisting of a toe bone of an Ox, tied with sinew, with two small sticks inserted at the ends of the cord (Fig. 18). Made by Pte-sa Wakpa, "White-cow River."
22,127. Whizzer (tateka yuhmunpi), a thin, flat, rectangular piece of wood, 1 1/4 by 5 ¾ inches, attached by a thong, 36 inches in length, to the end of a stick 31 1/4 inches long (Fig. 19). Made by Sunka Tanka, "Peter Crier."
22,128. Boys throwing arrow (pte heste), a thin, straight dart 29 3/4 inches in length, tipped with a cone of horn and having a bunch of feathers secured with sinew at the shaftment (Fig. 20). Made by Pte-sa Wakpa, "White-cow River."
22,129. Feathered bone (paslo kanpi), fragment of beef rib, 8 inches in length, with feathers stuck on two wooden pegs inserted in one end of the bone (Fig. 21). Total length 25 inches. Made by Cee Wanju, "Quiver." 22,130. Toy bow and arrow (hoksila-itazipa). The bow rudely cut from hard wood, with a single curve and a sinew string, 30 inches in length, and the arrow, made of a sapling, with a blunt head 18 inches in length (Fig. 22). Made for sale.
22,131. Pop-gun (epahoton). A piece of sapling 3/4 inch in diameter and 6 1/2 inches in length, with a hole burned through
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the centre, the outside being ornamented with burned lines as shown in Fig. 23.
22,132. Girls' throwing stick (winyanta paslo hanpi), slender sapling, tipped with a horn point. Total length 63 inches (Fig. 24). Made by Pte sa. Wakpa, "White-cow River."
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VOCABUARY.
The Lakota names are followed by the Dakota equivalent and definition from Riggs' Dakota Dictionary.* (*FN A Dakota-English Dictionary. By Stepheo Robinson Riggs, Washington, 1890. ) In the latter the aspirate c, s and z, and the nasal n at the end of a syllable, are printed in italics.
Cangleska = can-hde'-ska; can = wood; hde-ska', "spotted."
Cangleska luta = hde'-ska du'-ta, "Red Hoop."
Can huta = can-hu'-ta, "a stump."
Can takapsica = can ta-ka'-psi-ca; = "wood;" ta-ka'psi-ca = "to play ball by taking up the ball in the club and throwing it."
Can wakiyapi = can wa'-ki-ya'-pi; can = "wood;" Wa' -ki- ya-pi = "trial;" a top is can'-ka-wa-ci-pi.
Capa woskate = ca'-pa wi-co'-ska-te; ca'-pa, "beaver."
Cee wanju = ce wan'-zu.
Epahoton = i-pa'-po-pe, "a pop-gun; the elder from which pop-guns are made."
Cuwinyawa = can i-ya'-wa.
Gala = ka-da', "to scatter."
Haka heciapi = ha-ka' ki-ci-ya-pi. ( Heciapi is properly a woman's word = kiciapi. Kiciapi is from ki'-ci, "one another," and ya-pi', "they go")
Hanpapecu = han'-pa-a-pe, or han'-pa-a-pe-e-con-pi.
Hohouh yuhmunpi = ho-hu' yu-mni'-pe, "bone whistles."
Hoksila itazipa = ho-ksi'-la i-ta'-zi-pa, "boy's bow."
Hosisipa.
Howi woskate = ho-wi wi-co'-ska-te.
Hutanacuta = hu-ta'-na-ku-te, "to play with the hutinacute; to throw a stick so as to make it slide along the snow."
Icazopi = i-ca'-zo-pi, "marks."
Inahme kiciyapi = i-na-hma ki-ci-ya-pi.
Inktomi = un-kto'-mi, "spider; also a fabulous creature."
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Kaga woskate = ha-ka' wi-co'-ska-te, "hak-a play" Ha-ka' means "branching, having many prongs. Elk is he-ha'-ka.
Kansu = kan-su', "plum stones.'
Mato kiciyapi = ma-to' ki-ci-ya-pi.
Mato woskate = ma-to' wi-co'-ska-te; ma-to', "bear."
Matoyaslowin = ma-to' ya-zo-win.
Okaja =o-ki'-zan, "forked."
Okicu.
Ota = a'-ta, "many,"
Painyankapi = pa-in'-yan-ka ki-cun-pi, "the game of shooting through a hoop."
Paslo hanpi = pa-slo' han-pi, "hutinacute."
Ptegleska woskate = pte'-gle-ska wi -co'-ska-te, "cattle play."
Pte heste.
Pte sa Wakpa = Pte ska wa-kpa', "White-buffalo-cow River."
Pute = pu-te', "the upper lip"
Sapa = sa'-pa, "black."
Si Hoksila = Si ho-ksi'-la.
Sunka Tanka = sun'-ka tan'-ka, "Big Dog," or "Buffalo."
Takapsica = ta-ka'-psi-ca, "to play ball by taking up the ball in the club and throwing it."
Tahuha cangleska = ta-hu'-ka can-hde'-ska. Ta-hu'-.ka, "hide of a buffalo, green hide."
Tampa = tan-pa', "white birch." Tan-pa' wa-ksi-ca, "dishes made out of the tanpa."
Taoga cangleska = ta-ho'-ka can-hde'-ska. Ta-ho'-ka-ta, "a spider's web."
Tasiha = ta-sa'.ka, "the hoofs or nails of deer."
Ta-sunk witko = Ta-sun'-ka wi-tko' = "Crazy Horse."
Tateka yuhrnunpi = ta-te'-ka yu-mni'-pe, "wind whistler."
Tohogrnu.* (*FN Explained by Mr. Meeker as from tahuka and gmi gma, "round.")
Tom = tom, "cont. of topa, four."
Topa = to'pa, "four."
Wanagi kiciyapi = wa-na'-gi ki-ci-ya-pi.
Wasicun wa-si'-un. "Frenchmen, in particular, all white men. Teton, a familiar spirit, some mysterious forces or beings, which are supposed to communicate with men."
Waziya = wa-zi'-ya, "the god of the north."
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Waziyata = wa-zi'-ya-ta, "at the pines, the north."
Wica peca = wi'-ca-pe'-ca, "a kind of grass armed with a long, sharp beard."
Winyan-hopa = win'-yan lis'-pa, "beautiful woman."
Winyanta paslo hanpi = win'-yan- ta pa-slo'-han-pi, "girl's hutinacute."
Zi = zi, "yellow."
Addendum (courtesy of William Wierzbowski, Assistant Keeper, American Section, The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology):
Louis L Meeker made a collection of Lakota games in 1900 and donated them to the University of Pennsylvania Museum in the same year. The accession numbers are 22109 thru 22135. Five of those items were exchanged with Emil Lenders in 1908 (nos. 22115, 22118, 22119, 22120, and 22128). Lenders was a local collector/dealer and the museum is unsure of the final disposition of his collection. Meeker also wrote about the collection in an article published in the Bulletin of the Free Museum of Science and Art (as this museum was known whe it first opened) titled, "Ogalala Games" (Vol.III, No. 1, January, 1901 -- the article reproduced above). Interestingly, in the catalogue of the collection attached to the end of his article, Meeker lists only the objects up to accession number 22132. There are three more objects in this collection that appear on the museum registrar's cards: 22133 (stick), 22134 (gaming top), and 22135 (dart, thrown with a whip). Why they were not included in the article is anyone's guess. Stewart Culin also included much of the material Meeker collected (with line drawings) in his Games of the North American Indians (24th Annual Report of the BAE, 1902-1903).
This page is managed by
Rev. Raymond A. Bucko, S.J.
of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology
at Creighton University.E-Mail: bucko@creighton.edu
Ths Page Was Last Updated: September 23, 2006
