The Red Cloud chief., 1895-07-19
RECKLESS INDIANS.
GAMBLING AMONG BLACK RIv.
Frs AND PUvALlUPS.
TIT Red Men VIII Literally stake Every.
thing They Possess Upon the Result
Of the Primitive Game Of GUESSING
In Which They Are Engaged.

A great game Of chance is In progress
on tho Puyallup Indian reservation.
washington. and has been kept up
teadily for the past three weeks. The
BLACK Rivers are trying to clean out
the Puyallups. and will keep It up until
they succeed or are themselves stripped
or all they possess. 1t may be a month
before the game Is concluded. but when
IL 10. either one side or the other will
nave parted with it's last blanket. It's
iast calico dress and It's last of every
tning that has value in Indian eyes.
Inc Slack Rivers may go home laden
with spells. or they may walk sorrow
tuiiy TO their native heath without even
a gun or a sQuaw TO keep them COM
pahy. Tor. In the excitement OF gaming.
the indian often wagers his "klootch-
man as his wife IL dominated In the
m~ellinuous Chinook" The IndIan In
an inveterate gambler. and In hat the
white sport would call 'blooded."
ABOUT twenty OF the Black Rivers
nave come over to the Puyallup stamp
ing u with all their worldly pos
sessions and will remain there until they
go nome either stripped or loaded with
spoll. The game In played In a frame
ehed. possessing but a dirt floor. Around
the sides are the sleeping mats OF the
Visitors and their blankets. n In the
center IL a fire. about which the players
ana spectators are grouped. while a
naring and fiickering light Is shed upon
them by a blaze Of pitch knots burning
on an a~sh-covered stool. The game be-
gins about s o'clock each night. and
oiten lasts until late the next day. When
all II ready two patriarchs from each
SIDE enter with the layout" consist
ing OF wooden chips about the shape and
twice the size Of a silver dollar. and 120
taiiy sticks. all wrapped in gaily-
decorated mats. Two bags Of thin bark
shavings complete the OUTFIT. Mats are
spread before the fire and two men from
each side seat themselves. fscing each
otner. n are ready for business. The
adherents Of rival players range Them
selves In the ear and watch the game
with Intense Interest and bet recklessly.
Ont or the players takes ten chips. n
OF them distinguished from the other
by a white ring. and divides them into
TWO equal piles and carefully mixes
them with the bark shavings.
He then grabs one pile. shavings and
All. In each hand. and moves his hands
IN a circle rapidly from right to left.
while n Of the opposite side gucsses
In which hand he holds the white-ringed
CHIP. or queen" as II Is called. II the
guess IL right one Of the tally.sticks 10
taken from the players pile and given
TO the guesser. but II wrong the guess
srs pile suffers. Each side started with
sixty sticks and when one side has won
them all the game will come to an end.
The Puyailups are now thirty-six ahead.
but the end 10 not yet in sight. Bets
are constantly being made. not on the
separate plays. bvt on the outcome Of
the game. and ~ill be settled at the
same time. These bets consist Of money.
blanksts. horses. watches. guns. cows.
buggtes. harness and everything the
bstters possess. even to the clothing on
their backs. Among the Indians VI the
Puget Sound and Columbia region there
ID Q primitive game Of guessing that re-
sembles the Chinese game 90 closely a.
to suggest . common origin. Il 10 but
one OF the many things In the customs
or the Pacific coast Indians that In
dicate contact with the Asiatics at some
previous period.
A. the game progresses the friends OF
the players. who are all deeply interest
ed In h outcome. because Of having
staked their worldly wealth upon II.
encourage them. and assist In every
way possible. The women appear 20 be
a. interested a. their lords. They AZ
range themselves In lines on either side
OF the players and occasionally break
into m~onotonous chants or Indulge In
the peculiar movements that pass for
dancing among the American aborig-
ines. All night long this 10 kept up
without intermission. the Indians ap-
pasently being Incapable OF fatigue. To
the mere spectator the game 10 most
m~onotonous. but never % to those who
have 20 deep a. interest In the outcome
Of the play. In former days. when tribes
came together to the number OF hun.
dreds and wen thousands on zach side,
when such forms Of wealth ~ have been
introduced by the whites were unknown
to them. and they had only their ma
tive articles to wager; when they were
dressed In their native costumes, the
scene must have been far more wild
and picturesque. Now the men wear
wooden shirts and overalls and the wom-
On are dressed In bright calico dresses,
with shawls over their shoulders and
colored handkerchiefs on their heads.