Gambling-Stick Reed
date: label: Accession Date
content: 14 Feb 1895
name: label: Collector
content: William J. McGee
label: Donor Name
content: Bureau Of American Ethnology
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "4 EACH. CONSISTING OF (1) FOUR SEHUARA CACTUS STICKS ABOUT 10" IN LENGTH, 1/2" WIDE, AND 1/4" THICK, ELLIPSOIDAL SECTION, PAINTED A SOLID RED ON ONE SIDE AND MARKED WITH BLACK LINES OF NUMERAL AND SEX SIGNIFICANCE ON THE OTHER; (2) A RECTANGLE MARKED ON THE GROUND, USUALLY APPROXIMATELY 12 BY 8 FEET, HAVING HOLES OR POCKETS ALONG THE SIDES; (3) MOVING PIECES, CALLED HORSES, WHICH ARE MOVED INTO VARIOUS PICKETS DETERMINED BY THE NUMERICAL VALUE OF THE STICK THROWN, AND (4) A HAMMER STONE TO DRIVE THE STICKS INTO THE AIR. THIS IS A GAMBLING GAME PLAYED AMONG THE PAPAGO INDIANS, IN WHICH TWO, THREE, OR FOUR PLAYERS MAY ENGAGE, PLAYING AS INDIVIDUALS, OR AS PARTNERS IN A FOUR-HANDED GAME. IN THE PLAY THE STICKS ARE HELD VERTICALLY BUNCHED IN THE RIGHT HAND, AND STRUCK FROM UNDERNEATH ON THEIR LOWER ENDS BY A STONE GRASPED IN THE LEFT HAND. THE BLOW SHOOTS THEM INTO THE AIR, AND THE POSITION OF THE UPTURNED FACES AND BACKS DETERMINES THE NUMBER OF HOLES THE HORSES MAY BE MOVED ALONG THE RECTANGLE'S POCKETS. #174516 - ILLUS. IN BAE 24TH AR, FIG. 165, P. 147 [Identified there as stick dice.]; ALSO IN USNM REPT, 1896; FIG. 59; P. 738."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 30 Jul 2020
label: Specimen Count
content: 4
place: label: Place
content: Not Given, San Xavier Reservation / Pima County, Arizona, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Papago (Tohono O'odham)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 029025
label: USNM Number
content: E174516-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Dice