Lauralee Van Bibber
Games of the Northwestern Shoshone
Northwestern Shoshone Indians had a variety of games that they played. Some were for pleasure and entertainment, others stressed athleticism, and the rest helped develop skills for work, hunting, and war. Games often involved a religious aspect with rules that were tied to the history and traditional beliefs of the Shoshone. According to Stewart Culin, who did an extensive study of Indian games, "they were played to drive away sickness, produce rain, and fertilize crops."
During the year, Shoshone bands occasionally gathered together and competed with each other in a variety of games. Their competitions included foot races, horse races, shinny, dancing, and other activities. Gambling or betting was often involved with many of the games played by the Northwestern Shoshone. Stakes were often large: as buffalo robes, hides, blankets, or even horses.
Northwestern Shoshone children also had their games as all children do. Indian children had toys of sticks, rocks, clay, and balls made of stuffed rawhide in which they used to develop games of their own. Children tended to mimic adult activities to ready themselves for work and war. Shoshone children often played a game in which they had a mock buffalo hunt. One child would be "It" and bellow like a bull, while the rest of the children tried to catch the "buffalo."
One of the most popular games played among the Northwestern Shoshone was called the hand game. It is played with any number of men or women ,but they play only against those of the same sex. The players sit on their heels, facing each other. Each side has 10 counter sticks to start with and they also have two bones or in some cases sticks, one is plain and the other is marked with a black strip of a string wound about it. The bones are about three and a half inches long and taper towards both ends. The player places the two bones or sticks under his blanket, hiding one in each hand. Then, exposing his hands, he begins to sing and move his arms in front of his body. His opponent carefully watches the singers hands, sometimes beating his own breast with one hand, and then points out the hand supposed to hide the plain bone. If he guesses correctly, it is then his chance to play, if he is mistaken he must surrender on of the ten tally-sticks with which each side started at the beginning. The game is concluded as soon as one side has lost all its counters. (See figures 1-4)
The four-stick dice game was also very popular. It is played with four long, thin willow sticks about 10 inches in length, convex on one side and flattened on the other, with a groove in the center. Two of the sticks have a burnt mark on either side of the groove, midway between the top and bottom. The sticks are thrown on a flat stone and the throws are counted by means of tally-sticks. In betting, a player wagers so many counters that he will equal a certain number of points. If he is successful, he receives a number of tally-sticks corresponding to his throw. Then the opponent throws. Unless he equals or surpasses the former throw, he must pay the number of sticks wagered. If he does equal or surpass the first throw he receives the staked amount. The dice count a tally-stick each, when they turn up on the marked side. The other two sticks have four marks on either side of the groove, one pair near each end, and count for points each. The convex side does not count in any case. (See figures 5-6)
Shinny is a game played by many different bands. The Shoshone are one of those and it is very popular among the women of the Eastern band. The game is played by teams of about 10 on a field roughly 75 yards long with two goals marked off at each end. It can be played with a single ball covered with buckskin and is about 3 ½ inches in diameter. The ball is hit by sticks with a broad curved end in a J-shape about 24 ½ inches long. The game can also be played with two connected buckskin balls, in this case the sticks are straight. To start the game two players meet in the center of the field, with their teammates bunched behind them. As all watched, one of the players throws the ball up into the air, and the teams would then start scrimmaging for possession. The ball might be touched, pushed along rather than tossed only with the sticks. The purpose of the game was to toss or carry the ball over the opponent’s goal line. Doing this once the team wins. (See figures 7-8)
Shoshones also held foot races. These were normally between young men and were over fairly long courses, half a mile or longer. Two or three pairs of partners would compete. Only the first place counted and the winner would take everything bet, which was often a very considerable amount. Onlookers also bet heavily. Races were often held with other tribes, occasionally, with the Bannock band at their summer meeting place in the mountains.
Besides foot races the Shoshone held ball races or often called football. There were two balls, one for each team. All the contestants, as many as 40, run in the same direction. Each team kicking its own ball towards a previously determined goal without interfering with his or her opponent. The players do not all participate at the same time, as the goal could be several miles from the starting point. Many players would get tired and drop out therefore another player would take his place. If the ball happened to fall into the brush where it couldn’t be easily reached by kicking, the player would have to use a stick to reach it because hands were not allowed under any circumstances. The side that reaches their goal first wins.
Minor games played by the Northwestern Shoshone included the arrow game, juggling, stilts, and tops. The arrow game consisted of two competitors who would both shoot two feathered arrows at a target in the shape of a stick. It can also be played with a hoop and dart. Women enjoyed a contest of who could juggle two to four balls of mud or gypsum, about three inches in diameter, to a predetermined goal without dropping any. The balls were often painted according to the fancy of the owner. This has long been known among Indians long before the whites began doing it. Stilts were made of saplings with a forked crotch, the lower part of which is bound with willow bark. Tops were made of wood three and a half inches in length, painted yellow and blue. The whip, used to spin it, was a stick 24 inches in length with a leather thong.
(See figures 9-11)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Culin, Stewart. "Games of the North American Indians." In 24th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, ed. W. H. Holmes, 44-809. Washington D. C.: Government Printing office., 1907.
Lowie, Robert H. "The Northern Shoshone." In A Great Basin Shoshonean Source Book, ed. Davis Hurst Thomas, 169-303. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1986.
Perry, Mae. "The Northwestern Shoshone." In A History of Utah’s American Indians, ed. Forrest S. Cuch, 25-72. Salt Lake City: Utah Division of Indian Affairs & Utah Division of State History., 2000.
Powell, John Wesley. Material Culture of the Numa, The John Wesley Powell Collection 1867-1880. ed. Don D. Fowler, John F. Matley, 69-71. Washington D. C.: Smithsonian Institution Press., 1979.
Reyhner, Jon. "Games and Contests." In American Indians, ed. Harvey Markowitz, vol. 1 292-94. Pasadena, California: Salem Press, Inc., 1995.
Shimkin, Demitri B. "Eastern Shoshone." In Handbook of North American Indians, ed. Warren L. D’Azevedo, vol. 11 322-24. Washington D. C.: Smithsonian Institution., 1986.
Trenholm, Virginia Cole, Maurine Carley. The Shoshonis, Sentinels of the Rockies. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1964.