parsons] personal LIFE 239 



Family property, including land, houses aside, is distributed equally 

 among offspring or descendants, at least in theory. Lucinda has a 

 brother and sister and each of the three inherited a field from their 

 parents. When Lucinda's mother-in-law discriminated in bequeath- 

 ing her flock of sheep in favor of her daughter's children and against 

 the children of her son, Lucinda felt outraged, and in spite of the 

 governor's decision she still feels outraged. "Was that right? Was 

 that right?" she vociferated. 



Games 



Shiimy (napoaha) is played for four days after the spring work on 

 the ditch, with practice playing late in the afternoons of that work. 

 The course is fromOrai'bi up to the oil well, no playing, as sometimes 

 elsewhere, in the fields. In practice play the ball is placed in the 

 center of the plaza, with the goal of the shure' in the southwest 

 corner, that of the Black Eyes in the northeast. Should the ball fall 

 among the houses in the neighborhood of the town chief's house, he 

 or his appointee has to be asked to get it out. As suggested above, 

 the play is by moiety. There is betting on the game, the stakes, an 

 acre of land, a cow, a house, and the winnings are distributed within 

 the group, only the size of the group is uncertain. I incline to think 

 that as elsewhere betting is more individualistic than communal. 

 This betting, rather than any ritual purpose, was the outstanding 

 character of the game in the opinion of my informant. And yet the 

 ball has to be made in the usual ritual way, covered with deerskin 

 and stufl'ed, in this case not with deer hair, but with "the strings that 

 pop out" in tanning the liide; " and the parties of players meet in the 

 churchyard to sing; and, most significant of all, as the players pass 

 by the houses the girls inside throw water on them by the dipi)eiful, 

 tlie familiar Pueblo practice to bring rain. 



A girl's ball game was formerly played — ipohata'hi, rendered "they 

 are betting pQ'to (corn meal)." Two balls tied together were used, 

 the balls covered with buckskin and stuffed with wool. The stick 

 was of willow. The game might keep up for two weeks. The 

 players were young girls, six on a side, east-side people (hebaii wein) 

 against west-side people (hehnaiiwein) or weUma people, which tei-ms 

 refer, I take it, to the Black Eyes and the shure'. As this alignment 

 seemed a "secret" to Lucinda, no doubt the game was ritualistic. 



Hidden ball (ku'wi) is played, by men, three or four to aside. It is 

 played any time during the winter, at night, at home, not in kiva 

 where no games are allowed. . . . The four containers are of cane, 



^ If the ball bursts, .-another ball is brought into play, which fact corroborates the view that the game 

 is not played, a.s by the Tcwa and Hopi, to fertilize the fields. When their ball bursts they stop playing. 



