THE OREGON NATURALIST. 



23 



KLICKITAT GAMBLING DICE. 



Gambling devices in the foim of dice have 

 been knuwn fur ;ij^es. and are common among 

 civilized and bai barons races. 'I'liey are gener- 

 ally in llie shape of a six sided cnbe, but many 

 forms o( gaml l.ng sticks, teetotums, etc., come 

 under the same head. Chinese dice differ only 

 fiom the ones commonly used every day in that 

 tlie ace is repiesented by an exceedingly large 

 red spot. The Intlian is an inveterate gamber, 

 and dice are among his favorite gaming para- 

 phernalia. The big ''potlatches" held yearly 

 among the tribes of the Noiihvvest furnish o])- 

 j'orluniiy for the gay and festive siwr.sh to in- 

 dulge in his favorite recieation of gambling, and 



ports, I will enter into minute details of the 

 method of playing the game; upon the authority 

 of the dusky lady from whom I obtained them. 

 Her husband, who is a Cowlitz, corroborated 

 her statements. The dice are four in number, 

 lonsiitutirig a >-et, and are made of the incisors 

 of a beaver. Twoofeakh are marked alike, 

 the ones with five spots representing "queens," 

 and the ones with the stripes and single dot are 

 "kings." One side of each is left blank. The 

 [ilayers, of which there may be any number, but 

 usually two, seat themselves on the ground, with 

 a blanket or soft skin between them. The play- 

 er takes the dice in one hand and throws them 

 with a peculiar underhand, sliding motion in 

 such a manner that they slide and fall on the 



(^UKEN. 



he frequently loses all his "ictas" and is com- 

 jielled to go home afoot, minus his pony, lifle 

 and other worldly possessions. The writer, has 

 lately come into po.«session of an exceedingly 

 curious set of four dice, which he obtained from 

 a fuil-blood Klickitat squaw, a member of that 

 gieat Western tribe the Nez Perces, who rank 

 high among the Pacific coast Indian tribes. The 

 "klootchman" was exceedingly loquacious for 

 one of her race, and explained in grea^ detail 

 .how the dice were cast, the highest and lowest 

 throw, etc., etc. As I can llnd no such gaming 

 device of the character of the one of which I 

 write mentioned in any of the Smithsonian re- 



skin or blanket. Each player shakes in turn, 

 and the one making the highest throw takes the 

 "chickamin" (money). The highest throw 

 possible is when all four blank sides fall face up- 

 ward. The winner of the stakes in each takes 

 first throw at the next cast of the dice. One cast 

 determines the result of the player's luck. In 

 case two players are tied, the result is determined 

 by another cast. Following is a list of the high 

 and low throws, beginning with the highest and 

 graduating down to the lowest: 



4 blanks — highest throw possible. 



3 blanks and king. 



3 kings and queen. 



