STEVENSON] 



GAMES 329 



now personate these gods in turn (see page 235); at least such was the 

 case until the Sho'wekwe became so degenerated that the director of 

 the fraternity preferred to choose the personators of the Ko'yenishi 

 from the fraternities at hirge rather than to call on the men of his 

 own. The fraternity no longer exists in its original purity, having 

 degenerated into a body of professional gamblers which bears no rela- 

 tion whatever to the one organized by the rain priests; but the game 

 is still played by the priests and others in all sacredness for rain. 



The reeds used for ceremonial occasions are rarely brought out at 

 other times. Such reeds are old and are preserved with care, and it is 

 considered a great privilege when one having lost heavily at the game 

 may secure, as indicated in the succeeding paragraph, a ceremonial set 

 of reeds through which to recover his possessions. 



The following was related by a celebrated player of sho'liwe. 



The only rain priests who have the game of sho'liwe are those of the south, west, 

 and the one who goes last into retreat for rains." Long ago the rain priest of the 

 west and tlie one last mentioned possessed the game, but the rain priest of the south 

 having great desire for the game presented a fine buckskin and many turquoise to 

 the priest of the west, requesting the game in return. The retpiest was complied 

 with, and the priest of the south became the happy possessor of the game. Tins 

 occurred long before the birth of my uncle, the rain priest of the west, who is- now 

 an aged man. The medicine given the priest of the south with the game is all gone, 

 but he pretends that he still has some, but we know that he has not, as he always 

 loses the game. 



I gambled with new reeds and lost beads, blankets, and other things, and in n\y 

 distress T went to the house of my uncle, rain priest of the west, where an original 

 set of reeds belonging to the younger God of War is kept. I told him of my trouble 

 and begged him to let me have the precious reeds to play with in order to win back 

 • my valuables. I visited my uncle's house the night of the day I lost my things. It 

 was in the month of May. He said: "Cometo me at the winter solstice.'' I did as 

 he bade me, going to him at night. He gave me the reeds, a klem'tutu'nuni' ( rhom- 

 bus), and two prayer plumes which he had prepared for me, the sticks being of the 

 length of the middle finger measured on the underside. A la'showanne, composed 

 of a turkey-leg feather, a duck plume, and a wing feather from each liird of tlie six 

 regions, was tied pendent to each stii-k, with several precious l)eads strung on the 

 cord, the length of the cord from the stick to the plumes being measured by the four 

 fingers crosswise. My uncle also gave me medicine, whidi was a little 1)lack and a 

 little white, to rub on my hands when I should be ready to play. It appeared like 

 , grease, but I do not know what it was. I spent the night with my uncle while he 

 taught me four old songs. He said, after 1 had learned the songs by heart: "Before 

 you play the game shut your mouth and sing the songs with your heart. After sing- 

 ing the songs once you may speak with the man with whom you are to play, but you 

 must again shut your mouth and sing the songs with your heart, and then you may 

 play." At sunrise the wife and the daughter of my uncle came mto the room where 

 niy'uncle and I had spent the night. The girl prepared a bowl of yucca suds and 

 placed it innnediatelv before me. I sat facing east and the wife stood behmd me, 

 placing a hand on each shoulder. The girl stood s( )uth of the bowl and laced it. My 

 uncle was the first to dip two eagle-wing plumes fo ur times into the suds, each time 



a See A'shiwanni (Rain priesthood). 



