CULIN] DICE GAMES: CHIPPEWA 65 
Cat. no. 204967. Wooden platter (figure 46), 124 inches long and 7 
inches wide, cut from a single piece of wood. 
This was described by the collector, Mr G. H. Beaulieu, under the 
name of bugaysaywin as used in the dice game. 
Cuirrewa. Minnesota. 
J. Long® gives the following description of the bowl game: 
Athtergain, or miss none but catch all, is also a favorite amusement with 
them, in which the women fre- 
quently take part. It is played 
with a number of hard beans, 
black and white, one of which 
has small spots and is called 
king. They are put into a shallow 
wooden bowl and shaken alter- 
nately by each party, who sit on 
the ground opposite to one an- 
other. Whoever is dexterous 
enough to make the spotted bean jump out of the bowl receives of the adverse 
party as many beans as there are spots; the rest of the beans do not count for 
anything. 
Fig. 46. Platter for dice; length, 12} inches; Chippewa 
Indians, Mille Lacs, Minnesota; cat. no. 204967, 
United States National Museum. 
Wisconsin. . 
Jonathan Carver ” describes the game as follows: 
The game of the bow! or platter. This game is played between two persons 
only. Each person has six or eight little bones not unlike a peach stone either 
in size or shape, except they are quadrangular, two of the sides of which are 
colored black, and the others white. ‘These they throw up into the air, from 
whence they fall into a bowl or platter placed underneath, and made to spin 
round. 
According as these bones present the white or black side upward they reckon 
the game; he that happens to have the greatest number turn up of a similar 
color, counts 5 points; and 40 is the game. 
The winning party keeps his place and the loser yields his to another who 
is appointed by one of the umpires; for a whole village is sometimes concerned 
in the party, and at times one band plays against another. 
During this play the Indians appear to be greatly agitated, and at every 
decisive throw set up a hideous shout. They make a thousand contortions, 
addressing themselves at the same time to the bones, and loading with impre- 
cations the evil spirits that assist their successful antagonists. 
At this game some will lose their apparel, all the movables of their cabins. 
and sometimes even their liberty, notwithstanding there are no people in the 
universe more jealous of the latter than the Indians are. 
Apostle islands, Wisconsin. 
J.G. Kohl ¢ thus describes the game called by the Indians pagessan : 
The Canadians call it le jeu au plat. (the game of the bowl). It is a 
game of hazard, but skill plays a considerable part in it. It is played with a 
wooden bowl and a number of small figures bearing some resemblance to our 
chessmen. They are usually carved very neatly out of bones, wood, or plum 
stones, and represent various things—a fish, a hand, a door, a man, a canoe, 
@ Voyages and Travels of an Indian Interpreter, p. 52, London, 1791. 
> Travels through the Interior Parts of North America, p. 238, Philadelphia, 1796. 
¢ Kitchi-Gami, Wanderings round Lake Superior, p. 82, London, 1860. 
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