DBNIQ] THE ASSINIBOIN 565 



form merely for amusement, and their dances in this respect partake 

 of the nature of the rest of their employments. 



Games 



Most of these trihes, particularly the Sioux, are" fond of ball play- 

 ing in parties. The principal game at ball is called TaJi-cap-sce-cha/i, 

 being the same denominated shinny or bandy by the whites. It is 

 generally got up when two different bands are camped together and 

 a principal person in each having made a bet of a blanket or gun, 

 they choose from their bands an equal number of young men, who 

 are always the most active they can select, the number varying from 

 15 to 40 on each side. Sometimes the play is headed by the chief of 

 each band betting, though they take no part in the game, which is 

 usually played by men 20 to 30 years of age. Each of the players 

 stakes something against an equivalent on the part of one on the 

 opposite side and every bet is tied together separately, which con- 

 sists of shirts, arrows, shells, feathers, blankets and almost every 

 article of trade or their own manufacture, and as fast as the bets 

 are taken and tied together they are laid on a pile about the center 

 of the playground, being given in charge of three or four elderly 

 men who are chosen as judges of the sport. After this has been 

 concluded two posts are set up about three-quarters of a mile apart 

 and the game consists in knocking the ball with sticks toward these 

 posts, they being the limit for either party in different directions. 



They strip naked except the breechcloth and moccasins and paint 

 their bodies in every possible variety of manner. Each is furnished 

 with a stick about Sy 2 feet long, turned up at the lower end, and they 

 range themselves in two lines, commencing at the middle of the 

 ground and extending some distance on either side. The ball is cast 

 in the air in the center of the course, struck by some one as soon 

 as it falls, and the game begins, each party endeavoring to knock 

 the ball to the post designated as their limit. The game is played 

 three times and whichever party succeeds in winning two courses 

 out of the three is judged conqueror. When the players are well 

 chosen it is often an interesting game, and some splendid specimens 

 of foot racing can be seen, but when one of them either intentionally 

 or by accident hurts another by a stroke with the play stick a general 

 shindy takes place, and the sticks are employed over each other's 

 heads, which is followed by a rush for the stakes, and a scramble. 

 We have seen them when this was the case arm themselves and 

 exchange some shots, when, a few being wounded, the camps would 

 separate and move away in different directions. Supposing, how- 

 ever, the game proceeds in its proper spirit and humor, each bet 

 being tied separately, the parcels are handed out to the successful 



