boas] DESCRIPTION OF THE TSIMSHIAN 409 



When women who are out berrying go into camp, they may be 

 visited by young men, who cut firewood for them (167). The campers 

 keep up a roaring fire (167, 1.73). They use skunk-cabbage leaves 

 for dishes (68,89,261). 



Playing and Gambling 



Children play house in a hollow log lying on the beach (253, N 102); 

 boys play being shamans (322); young people amuse themselves 

 swimming in the lake and playing on the beach of the lake (154); 

 they play ball with bat and ball (N 95). In the evening they come 

 homo from play (155). Boys go out to play in the morning (246). 

 The people go playing in the evening (254, 257, 292, 1.213). Chil- 

 dren walk about on the street (235). They also amuse themselves 

 catching fish (1.243), hunting squirrels (322, N 211), and they play 

 with young animals captured alive (see p. 445). People contest in 

 throwing sling-stones (299, N 138), and have shooting-matches (69, 

 N 19). 1 



Many men pass their time gambling. Generally the game played 

 with a set of gambling-sticks 2 is referred to (157). The gamblers 

 sit on the beach (74) or in a house in which they assemble day by 

 day (207). They paint their faces to secure good luck (217). Some 

 men play until they have lost all their property (101). They will 

 gamble away even their wives and parents, although it is not clear 



• The following games were described to me on Nass River (Boas 1, 1S9.5, pp. 582^583): 



Liha'I: The guessing-game, in which a bone wrapped in cedar bark is hidden in one hand. The player 

 must guess in which hand the bone is hidden. 



Xxm: (M'.essing-game played with a number of maple sticks marked with red or black rings or 

 totemic designs. Two of these sticks are trumps. It is the object of the game to guess in which of the 

 two bundles of sticks, which are wrapped in cedar bark, the trump is hidden. Each player uses one 

 trump only. 



Mats&'n: About 30 small maple sticks are divided into iour or five lots of unecpial numbers. After 

 a first glance one of the players is blindfolded, the other changes the order of the lots, and the first player 

 must guess how many sticks are now in each lot. When he guesses right in 3, 4, or5 guesses out of 10 

 (according to the agreement of the players) , he has won. 



G6M: A ball game. There are two goals, about 100 to 150 yards apart. Each is formed by two sticks 

 about 10 feet apart. In the middle, between the goals, is a hole in which the ball is placed. The players 

 carry hooked sticks. Two of them stand at the hole; the other players of each party, six or seven in num- 

 ber, a few steps behind them toward each goal. At a given signal both players try to strike the ball out 

 of the hole. Then each party tries to drive it through the goal of the opposing party. 



LTt!: A ball game. Four men stand in a square. Each pair, standing in opposite corners, throw 

 the ball one to the other, striking it with their hands. Those who continue longest have won. 



Sments: A hoop is placed upright. The players throw at it with sticks or blunt lances and must 

 hit inside the hoop. 



Mada': A hoop wound with cedar bark and set with fringes is hurled by one man. The plas'ers 

 stand in a row, about 5 feet apart, ea<-h carrying a lance or stick. When the ring is flying past the row 

 they try to hit it. 



Halha'l: Spinning top made of the top of a hemlock tree. A cylinder 3; inches in diameter and 3 

 inches high is cut; a slit is made in one side, and it is hollowed out. A pin 24 inches long and a quarter 

 of an inch thick is inserted in the center of the top. A small board with a wide hole, through which a 

 string of skin or of bear guts passes, is used for winding up the top. It is spun on the ice of the river. 

 The board is held in the left and stemmed against the foot. Then the string is pulled through the hole 

 with the right. Several men begin spinning at a signal. The one whose top spins the longest wins. 



■ The sticks, 50 or GO in number, were made of bone or maple, and each was painted with its own 

 mark. Each has a name ( 157, note). 



