The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-08-10
10 is A GAMBLER
The Gre atest Vice Of Uncle Sam's
Skinned Wards.
Lo Wins or Loses with the Utmost Stoicism
Some of the Games Played Among
the Different - r:5es-A Grow
ing Evil

! haps the natural deviltry of the race
make Indians inveterate gamblers.
There is nothing in an Indians posses
sion which he viii not readily wager
| on a game of chance. Nearly every
noble red man is the possessor of an in
| dividual charm or fetch that gives him
the ability to do things that other In
dians cannot do. This fetch is some
thing that belongs especially 20 the in
dividuals possessing it, and according
TO their belief would be Of no use or
advantage to any other Indian. No
person besides the possessor knows
what the fetch is, and were it to be-
come known it would Immediately lose
the power for good. Having full faith
in the ability of his charm to bring
luck to him, the Indian never fails to
place all his possessions in the balance
when there is a bet on. If he loses he
takes it philosophically and attributes
his bad luck to the greater power of
his adversary's charm. If he wins he
has added faith in the power of his own
charm. ! have known an Indian to
wager all of his earthly possessions,
even to his squaw and children, on the
fall of stick in one of their games
have known one village to become alb
solute paupers ard be dependent upon
charity for months because the mem
bers bet everything they had on the re-
suit of game participated in by two
villages.
Gambling, says the Pittsburgh Dis
patch, is not secret vice among
the Indians. 1t is INDUCED in by all
members of the tribe, and the more ex-
pert the gambler becomes the higher
he stands in the estimation of his fell
lows. To have the fame of being a
successful gambler causes an Indian to
be looked up to almost as much as if he
were a successful warrior. There is no
fear of shocking the morals of even the
highest chief by proposing game with
him. One point of advantage held by
the red man over his white brother. is
in the fact that when he loses every
thing he possesses he is not much
poorer than he was before, and he can
readily recoup himself by making a
raid upon some weaker tribe.
One popularity of Indian gambling
games is their intricacy. In several
tribes | have seen Indians playing a
game with sticks and stones for hours
at time. Notwithstanding the
closest attention have been unable to
discover the system used, nor have /
ever met white man who could ex-
plain the game to me. There are sever
al games of this character, and among
the Pacific coast tribes they are COM
mon In addition to this faith in his
charm the Indian places great depend
ence upon his ability to cheat. The
best cheat is accorded the highest
honors when gambling is INDUCED in.
There is never a thought of getting
angry over deft tricks or unfair
methods so long as the perpetrator is
not caught in the act. If he is caught
he simply refunds his gains and is
laughed at for his clumsiness. II is
probable that no gambling game among
Indians ever goes to an ending without
what a white man would call outrage
Gus cheating.
The players never get angry and
there is never any quarreling over the
games. Indians lose and win with
that is the envy of gentlemen
gamblers among the whites. l know
of an Indian who lost all his belong
ings, even to his wife and children. and
yet he got up with a smile on his face
and started out to steal enough from
some unfortunate white man or other
tribe Of Indians to make up for his lost
fortune. Indians will sit all night over
a game and sometimes three or four
games are going at the same time, the
excited onlOokers passing from one to
the other and betting on two or three
games at once.
Two principals choose sides, or two
villages are arrayed against each other,
and then the fun begins. The opposi-
ton sides sit opposite each other in a
long double row. Between the rows
are spread blankets, upon which the
stakes are placed. The preliminaries
Of the game consist Of the decision Of
stakes, values and amounts. It fire.
quently takes an hour TO settle all the
points of stakes, and then the game
proper begins. 4 toss is made TO see
which side shall hold the bone. which, |
being settled, all is attention. The /
center player takes a small bone in his |
hands and begins a series Of frantic /,
jugglings to deceive his opponents. /
and then rapidly passes his hands to /
the person on the right and then to his 4
left as if placing the bone in their 4
hands. Immediately the two 90
through similar motions and apparent +
" pass the bone on to their next neigh /.
Dor. This is continued until the whole /
line, sometimes composed Of one hun .
bred Indians. is a maze of waving 4
hands and arms, each Indian trying TO /
make the other side believe that he 4
holds the bone. Should one of the /
have reason to believe that .
he can locate the bone he points and I
the hand is he.A out If .
le wins the bone Is passed across the !
Inc and a point is scored for the side 4
holding the bone and the whole thing 4
begins over again.
Should the bone be accidentally
dropped il counts point for the oppo-
Ute side. where the bone also goes.
The game consists OF tweuty-one
points. and sometimes lasts two DAYS
and one night without cessation. n a
-ame between a band Of Utes and
BAND OF Navaj0es near the southern /
-te agency IN 1872 the Navajoes lost
heir entire possessions. consisting q
horses, arms, robes, tents, clothing and
. large sun OF money. They left with
lot a murmur, but an Apache raid on