The Shosfioni-Goship Indians. 229 



THE NI-AY-WAY, OR TWO-STICK GAME OF THE 

 GOSHIP INDIANS 



In this game, two game sticks about two and one-half inches 

 long and one-eighth of an inch in diameter and some tally 

 sticks are used. One of the game sticks has a thread or a buck- 

 skin band around its center. When playing, the player holds 

 one of the game sticks in each hand. These he changes from 

 hand to hand behind his back, under a blanket or behind an 

 apron (if a woman is playing), or at any place out of sight of 

 the guesser, his opponent ; though he faces his opponent in the 

 open throughout the whole time he is playing. When playing, 

 the players are two in number and sit opposite and about six 

 feet from each other, though each set may be joined by many 

 helpers and each may represent a whole clan or tribe. (In the 

 game which I saw one side was the Skull Valley Indians, the 

 other side the Nevada and Deep Creek Indians.) In this game 

 the player having changed the game sticks to suit himself, 

 brings his hands before him and swings them back and forth 

 from left to right and the reverse, as he changes the sticks in 

 sight or out of sight (concealed) from hand to hand by sleight- 

 of-hand performance, to disconcert his opponent, and his col- 

 leagues sing a vigorous song in a monotonous minor key. A 

 "good" player will change the sticks after the guess is made. 

 As the player is thus acting the guesser is preparing to make 

 his guess. He makes false motions with his hands, points 

 to this hand and then to that hand of his opponent, while he 

 argue and jokes to see if he can decide from his actions where 

 the valuable stick is, in which hand it is held. Having decided 

 in his own mind, he makes his guess (calls it) by slapping his 

 hands together in a vigorous manner and then pointing his 

 right hand toward the hand he has decided holds the mystic, 

 winning stick. If he loses, his opponents begin again the 

 vigorous song of triumph and commence to hide the sticks 

 again. If he wins, the sticks are turned over to him. Below 

 are the rules for playing the game : 



1. The unmarked stick is the winning stick. 



2. If the guesser guesses which hand the unmarked game 

 stick is in, he gets the game sticks, but no tally, and the other 

 side begins to guess. 



3. The tallies are kept by an agreed number of tally sticks, 

 each side at the beginning of the game having the same num- 



