The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-10-21
INDIANS AS GAMBLERS.
dLWAFs READY TO RISK THEIR
An IN 4 GAME or CHINCE.
Sometimes whole village. are Irpov.
erished by Streak OF nnd Luck They
Rely Upon Charms and Their Ability to
cheat They are Good Losers.

|
erished ny streak OF Bnd Luck-They
Rely Cpon Charms and Their Ability to
| cheat They are Good losers.
FoRr Sill, o. T., Oct. 2O.-As eagerly as a
duck hops into the water does an Indian jump
into game of chance. tnbounded belief in
| luck, and perhaps the natural deviltry Of the
| race, make Indians invcterate gamblers. There
| Is nothing In an Indians possession that he will
not readily wager on game of chance. Nearly
every noble red man Is the possessor Of an indi-
| vidual charm or fetch which enables them -
do things that other Indians cannot do. This
| fetch is of value exclusively TO the owner,
and according to their belief would be Of
| no use or advantage To any other In
dian. No person besides the possessur
knows what the fetch Ia. and were II TO
become known it would Immediately lose its
power for good No Indian will knowingly
| steal another Indians fetich Such theft yitHtos
| the power OF the thiefs fetch, and casts over
| him a hOodoo.
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 bet on. II he loses, he takes 1t phio-
sophically, and attributes his bad luck to tho
greater power of his adversary's charm. Ifhe
| wins he has added faith in the power OF his own
| charm. Indians have been known to wager all
! their earthly possessions even to their squHws
| and children and tepees ON the fall of a stick in
| one OF their games. Indian villages have b.
| come pauperized and dependent upon charity
| for months because the inhabitants bet
everything they had on the result of games
with other villages. such occurrences were
common several years ago and were it not for
the restrictions OF Government regulations
would be 80 still.
Gambling Is not a secret vice among the ln-
dians II il INDUCED In by all the members uf
the tribe. and the more expert the gambler tbs
higher he stands In the estimation OF his fell
lows. To have the fame OF being successful
gambler causes an Indian to be looked up to al
most rs much as II he successful war;
rior There is no fear OF shocking the morals of
even the highest chief by proposing game with
HMM fact tho invitation rather pleases 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 unfortunate white settler or upon
weaker tribe. The white man may commit sui
eide, but the Indian simply looks for a victim.
and seldom fails to find him.
Before the Government frightened the moral
lines on the Indians, professional Indian gam
blers were plentiful. OF late ,g years their mum.
che. Ills game is monte. He is about 80 years
His eyes are sunken like those of a consumptiye.
He never smiles and seldom speaks. Like all In
He usually rides a white pony and is attended
by two Apache Indians, both famous for deeds
and from Tribe to tribe EyeFywisre he is we'll
known. When his approach is made known the
6neH to wall tor With him him. Is m
maxim that I'm the game Of Quelepah the play
9espah n appeared Ss the Cash ' CreeE Village
couple Of weeks ago lie rode In into the SiaSs
spread a bright red blanket on the ground. Que
iepah knelt before II; A. he settled down on his
esn monte S cards The blanket was surrounded
by Indians crouching three and four deep. And
TO play Te ons
Quelepsh shufiled the cards with marvellous
rSSpidty The interest II the game wSSed as
night iell, and were fastened in sharp pointed
IN the In by b
Losses and PoGHetns p HE s"Ps He both
and on his left, crouched his two Apache fellow
A @ dawn He had ssps TWO Ind
SSeep"h aSaoSneed that il ws se Ris las, bet
Both Indians laid on the queen. The deuce won.
9uelepah p2cketcd his money, The village, save
SQuaws also are inveterate gamblers. 1t iss
common sight to see dozen squsws, young and
ground gro; ID crowded around an sd shawl, busy
over n ten-cent game Of monte. Their play is
Of theif own saiiicient to play FOR high STAKES.
their intricacy. In several Tribes the writer has
seen Indians playing games with sticks and
the closest attention he has been unable to di,-
cover the system used, nor has he ever met
are several games OF this Kind, and among tho
Pacific coast tribes they are common.
dian places great dependence on his, ability 20
cheat To the best cheat are accorded the high
Is, never thought Of getting Angry over d"lt
tricks or unfair methods 40 long as the perpc-
he refunds his gains and IS laughed . at at 10"
cumsiness. IL Is probable that no gambling
white man would call outrageous cheating.
since playing cards have become common,
games taught by the whites and MeSioaps are
Monte Is played for large amounts. Sometimes
an Indian with hundreds OF dollars will become
Impoverished In single evening by trying his
luck against a skilful player, An especially
def monte dealer; more skilful even than
tribe In the mountains OF New Mexico and re-
turn home loaded down with his winnings.
entire time 70 travelling among the various
tribes in the sierras; They win large sums. but
Indians will sit al night over a game. and
sometimes three or four games are going ON at
to the other and betting on two or t6res games
az once. Two principals choose sides, or two
quently in games, and then the fun begins The
opposing players sit facing each other in long
double row. Between the rows are spread
blankets, upon which the stakes are placed.
The preliniinaries of the games include
settling OF the stakes. II frequently takes an
hour to settle all the points, and then the
game proper begins. A toss is made TO see which
side shall hold the bone. Then the centre player
takes small bone in his hands and begins a Sc
ries Of frantic jugglings. TO deceive his OPP
ponents. lie rapidly passes his hands to the
person on the right and then to the player on the
medtately the two go through similar motions.
sometimes composed OF 100 Indians, is a row
waving hands, each Indian trying 10 make tho
other side believe that he holds the hone Should
one or the watchers have TO believe
That he can locate the bone he points, and imme-
diately the hand Indicated IL held out In hs
wins, the bone Is passed across the line, and
point Is scored for the side holding the hone
inSa 'ns whole ming BEGINS over again. ~ ne