Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-30
GAMBLING AMONG INDIANS
More Primitive the People the Greater Their
Love for Games
Some of the Devices. Ancient mud
Modern. which Appeal TO Alb
original Sporting Blood.
From the Chicago News.

| The Vagaries Of chance. aided more or less
| by skill, the occasional exhaltation Of mind
which all men demand in one form or an
| other
Much has been written about games Of
| chance with especial reference TO their
| origin. but this aspect of the case-the
part which they play in the life OF today
has been generally overlooked Indians.
negroes. cinnamon have been hastily class
eo as ihNeteraie gamblers. and such in
| deed, from one point of view. they are
| But there is something more than this in
the universal passion for play which char
| acterizes all the lower races without being
| oy any means confined to them.
Inc negro. whose whole soul seems ab-
| soroed in the formula. Come seben" or
| Come cleben." in his favorite game Of
| craps. Is yielding to the same impulse
which causes the Chinaman to spend an
| his earnings in the never-ending hut 10 him
| always fascinating mysteries OF ''fan-tan -
| and which justifies the Mexican. in his own
| mind. for the loss of many hours and a
| lew, II not many, dollars in the allurements
| OF monte on the sunny side OF his adobe
| snack The fondness of many business men
| Tor a quiet little game is an exhibition
OF me same desire for mental excitement
| anu chanse, different perhaps in amount.
| put not in kind. from that which holds a
| little band of Indians around n blanket
| spread upon the ground for days at "A
| time while the chances of the game are
| Origin of Indians Games.
| From this point of view the gambling
games of the Indians have a certain value
aside from the picturesqueness which is
| nearly always an accompaniment. All
| kinds of games are to be found among
| them, native as well as imported, and
| while the latter are gradually supplantine
| the former on account Of greater conven-
| fence and perhaps because Of quicker ac-
| ton. the strict aboriginal games are by no
| means extinct. They can still be found I'm
| iull SWING in many parts of the United
| states, which are a little remote from the
| usually Travelled lines. and but little chang
| ed to contact with our own civilization.
| There is little doubt that in their origin
| many, if not all. of these games were real
| Religious ceremonies, designed to foreteH
| the future, but they also played the same
| part in ancient times that they do today in
| supplying mental stimulus. Some of the
| games have come down practically AN
| changed in form. although now played
| under entirely different conditions from
| what they were originally. Among them
| perhaps the most striking is the game of
| moccasln, which seems to be unquestionably
| the forerunner of the little joker which
| every year proves so effective at country
| fairs in Turing dollars from the pockets of
| the unWary. This game was once widely
| distributed among the Indian tribes and it
| has been said that it is now extinct; but il
! can be seen today in its aboriginal form in
| any of the OUTLYING parts OF the Navajo
| reservation in Arizona.
| The paraphernalia of the game are very
| simple and always at hand, consisting
| merely of a knife or other hard substance
| "a pebble will Go-and the moccaSins of the
| players The game is usually played at
| night, although sometimes it extends over
| several days, and in its native setting has
Weirdness and fascination which the mod
| ern fakir cannot claim. Five persons
| usually participate, four of them actively,
| while the fifth acts musician. but
| usually much larger number watch the
progress of the game and perhaps place a
| bet occasionally.
Picture rude shelter of green boughs,
| roughly circular in form. placed in some
| th'cket. or under the overhanging branches
| of large tree. In the center a blanket is
| spread upon the ground. surrounded by
| fifteen or twenty Indians, squatting about
| it, or leaning over, intently watching the
play. Over all the fitful glow and play of
| light from huge fire one side. The eff
feet Is heightened by a weird song. which
1 is a constant accompaniment of the game,
1 and which rises and falls as the excitement
| grows and wanes. reaching, sometimes,
| such frenzied accents that the casual
| passer-by might easily mistake it for q
war song.
| Watching the Knife.
The players take their places at the four
| corners of the blanket. and are paired of
! by couples. Each player contributes one OF
| his moccasins, and the winner of the toss
| lays them on a blanket upside down and
1 ABOUT SIX lilCneS apart, with Inc toes point
| ing forward Then. with his left hand he
lifts each moccasin in turn and makes a
pretense of putting the knife under it. max
| ing many passes and using every precau-
ton to deceive his opponents and the spec
| tators. During all the time the musician
keeps up a continuous humming which he
| accompanies with a song In the song the
| others all join, but the opponents of the
players eagerly watch for some slip which
VIII give them clue to which mOccaSin
| the knife or little joker is concealed under
| When the knife is hidden to the satisfac-
| ton of the player, he suddenly calls out
"Ho!" in loud voice, and the singing
, drops to a low murmur. One of his oppo-
nentS is provided with short stick. and he
| raises it threateningly over the moccasins,
| first over one, then over another. while all
conversation ceases and every eye is fixed
| intenty upon him. The interest becomes
more and more intense as this byplay pro-
ceedS until finally the man with the stick
places one end of it under the moccasin he
selects and turns it over. Should the knife
be found under il. he wins. and the former
player relinquishes to him the moccasin and
knife, together with the stakes 1t is there
upon his privilege to hide the knife. while
his opponent must guess at its location
This reversal in position gives the native
player a much better chance to come out
even on the play than the average fakir
who works the game at country fairs is
disposed to allow his victim.
The peculiar traits of the Indian char
acter, especially his pronounced improy-i-
dence is much in evidence in his gambling
and ii is not unusual for man To ride up
with an elaborate outfit, horse, saddle and
silver bride, silver belt worth $40 or
more strings of silver beads and coral
necklaces, silver buttons on his moccasins
and leggings, &c, the whole rig worth
perhaps $500, and to leave a few hours
later. barefooted and carrying his saddle
on his back. bereft of buttons bracelets
and everything except his clothing.
Monte Cards.
The introduction Of American and Span
ish or monte cards has given greater op-
portunities for play, and has done much to
develop it. The most persistent efforts by
many different agents to break up the
practice have been entirely without effect,
and the average Indian agent now simply
ignores what he cannot control 1t is not
unusual to see small gambling parties in
sheltered hooks and corners of the agency
buildings. playing for the goods and rations
which have just been issued. The idea of
obtaining some Thing for nothing is quite as