Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-06-15
INDIAN GAMES or CHANCE.

Al Museum ae displysd various imple'
men,s. some Il ve'y rude and primitive
~o,km.n,hip. illustrating the games OF
chance played smong the North Ameri'
can Indian. Among the mos, curious
Of the exhibits illustrating the games OF
the savage. are packs Of playing cards
collected among the Apache Indians.
These card. are mad. Of dried skins or
parchment. aud ATE about the 'iie OF the
ordinary playing cards in use in every
~hi.'.pl.ying family. The devices upon
them have bsen iude!y drawn. The
number. of the card. e,mPo,ing pack
and the ehsrc'ers Of the devices indicate
that they are u spanish origin. Prof.
Oi.T Mason, the curator OF the section
II ,,hnoIosy. recently received from Mr..
Romero, Mexican Minister. several packs
Of card. Of the Mind knosn as Barcelona
cards. such a. have teen In use among
the sp.ni.rls and the Mexie.ns for many
generations. The Apache cards are rude
limitations OF the BareelonA cards. There
are four suits as In cur cards--spadss.
clubs. diamonds. and hearts The spade
!. sword or s,padon the club IL ver-
table club OF bludgeon; the heart Is q
heart enclosed in an urn. aud the diA'
mond gem or jewel represented as set
in the centre Of disc OF brooch OF some
kind. The spo, card, end with the 'ev-
ems. the Fights. mines and tens not being
included In the pack. In the Apache
card. the queen !. represented by a fe-
male figure. rudely drawn. like the frs,
,ifor, Of a yoa,hfalesrica,uri'' on slate.
The king |. represented by figure OF a
man. and the Jack OF knigh, bya man on
horseback.
"Ths.e card. were found among the
Indians" ,aid Prof Mason TO reporter.
when our exploring parties frs, wen,
among them. They undoubtedly got
them first from the Spanisrds. They
play number Of games with them, some
like simple game. ,h., are played With
our eard.-'old maid. 'maggins. aud
the like. and they had game also like
euehr. Nov they use cards such as We
use. which they have obtained from the
settlers and Others.
Here !. curious game. remarked
the professor. pointing to little cube OF
booze. having a square hole through i,'
centre. "Tbi. !. supended by an elias.
,ic .inew which keeps Il bobbina up and
down" The game !, TO strike IL with a
stick. When man hits !, instead OF
taking up something from the pawn. be
deposit. something on the pile. That
give, the younger OF lees ssPer, players
a chance. The man who makes HI,
zoe. into hi. house aud gets some article.
like a coat. or something Of that kind,
~hieh he throws upon the heap eompos.
ing the pawn OF stakes. This goes on I'll
finally the man Who has made the most
points take. all.
There il no game played by the In
dian. in America" continued the eura'
tor. "in which the mind 10 bfouah, to
bear upon a problem OF h.. to study out
the moves q. in ehes, or checkers There
/. no game in which the player Is expect.
cd 10 have mental skill. All the games
are strictly game. Of chance.
"Thi. gam. !, something like the
game Of j,ek,uaw.." he continued, point
ing 10 /. collection Of i~o dozen OF more
little round sticks. each having . di',in.
gushing figure carved or scratched upon
il. These little stick. are shaken up un-
dsra mat or hat. and then dropped TO
the ground. ,iill concealed by the hs, or
mat Then the man who handle, ihem'
the dealer, take. ou, one stick At a time.
handing them to the diferen, players in
turn. When they have all been deal,
out, the man who hA. the bss, hand wins.
The man Who hs. the chief takes the
best. or mos, valuable. the man who has
the next hishss, take, hn choice next,
aud 90 on"
one set Of these Indian .ek',raw'.
from the Queen Charlotte Islands. eshib.
Il. very ingenious workmanship. and has
. high value aside from It's connection
With Indian games. The s,raws are
made Of red cedar. nicely rounded and
polished. The characters carved upon
them repre.en, diaerh, creatures, which
figure in the mythology Of the northwest,
Indian. The carving has been very
neatly done. Fla, casts or moulds have
been taken Of these figures by rolling
them over plaster Of paris. aud from these
mould. have been obtained very curious
collection Of prints illustrating the Indian
mythology.
Here is another game played on the
nor,hwe., coast. continued Prof Mason.
referring to q collection Of little discs OF
wood. "Do you know = little game
called 'squsle.' You place = little lead
cube in the middle OF the table. and shoe,
little dice, along. the game being. to try
to see who will come nearss, the cubes.
I, !. something like quoi,s This Indian
game il on the same principle. A ma,
/. arranged with a ridge. The player
shoots one OF these discs up the mat.
and tries to stop !, on the ridge. II i,
stops there. the nex, man must Try to
knock IL off. II il something like the
game Of Duck on Da,y. which the boys
play"
Coming to number Of small ia, pieces
Of wood. each marked and striped differ.
emily. the professor continued. "This
is really a game Of dice. You see there
are different marks. on the upper and
lower side. A man takes three or four
in his hand and throws them upon the
ground or upon q rock. or throws them
in the air so they will scatter when they
fall. The spots or marks which are up.
permos, when they fall count. This game