332 THE ZUNI INDIANS [eth. ann. 23 



When the representative of the elder God of War throws, and the 

 concave side of a and the convex sides of the others are up, the trick is 

 won; or if a is convex side up with the others concave up, the trick is 

 won. If a crosses c or vice versa convex sides up, the trick is won, 

 even should one cross the other by but a hair's breadth. If 1> and d 

 should be crossed as described, the trick goes to the opponent. If all 

 convex sides are up or vice versa, the trick is lost. If the convex side 

 of h is up and the others have the concave sides up, the trick belongs 

 to the opponent. Silver buttons are the favorite chips for the 

 game. 



Though sho'liwe is a favorite of the lot games, it being the game of 

 the professional gamblers^' of the pueblo, there is no thought of per- 

 sonal gain when it is played b}' the rain priests for rain.^ At such 

 times great ceremony is observed and buckskins are used in place of 

 the cloth covering over the basket and of the blanket on the floor. The 

 skin on the floor has the head to the east. A portion of a circle, a 

 quadrant, or octant, is drawn on the skin. 



The gambling den of Zuiii was as notorious and was regarded with 

 the same aversion as a place of similar character is in civilization. The 

 more profligate characters, who depend upon gaming for their liveli- 

 hood, spent much of their time in this den, which was one of the old 

 interior rooms of the puel)lo. The room was reached by a ladder 

 through a hatchway, and, if the memory of the writer is correct, the 

 room was dindy lighted with a small window of selenite near the ceil- 

 ing. The hatchway was covered with a straw mat, upon which an eye 

 was kept that there might be no intruders. The writer first visited 

 this den in 1896. Her unannounced arrival was a surprise to the eight 

 or ten men present, who appeared to be much annoyed; but when 

 the}" were informed that she had come to observe the game and not to 

 denounce them for their profligacy a sigh of relief escaped them. 



There is but little ceremony associated with the game when played 

 b}' the professional or other gamblers. The most abandoned, how- 

 ever, would not dare to play without first oflering praj^ers to the 

 Gods of War, invoking their blessing, and breathing on their reeds. 

 The professional gamblers show in their faces deep lines and other 

 indications of dissipation, although the}" lose no more rest than the 

 rain priests and the theurgists. The inveterate gamblers, like other 

 people not altogether lost to a sense of right, must have the conscious- 



« After an absence of six years the writer found on her return in 1902 that the Zufli gambling house 

 was a thing of the past and that the game of sho'liwe was not so frequently played as formerly, either 

 ceremonially or for pleasure. 



'' The reader who has perused " Chess and Playing-cards," by Mr Stewart Culin (Report of the United 

 States National Museum, 1896) , will note the difference between the explanation of sho'liwe found in 

 that publication and that given here. For example, Mr Culin says: "Formerly sho'liwe was exclu- 

 sively a game of war divination and was played only by the priests of the Bow and members of the 

 esoteric society of the war shamans." According to Zuiii belief sho'liwe was played by the Divine 

 Ones (KOw'wituma and Wats'usi) and the rain priests for rain soon after they reached this world, 

 long before the creation of the Bow priesthood. 



