cui] DICE GAMES: ONONDAGA Hila 
noyau, stone of a fruit, the compounds “ t8atnenha8inneton, jouer 
avec des noyaux comme sont les femmes, en les jettant avec la main, 
and t8atenna8eron, y jouer au plat.” 
Ononvaca. New York. 
Rey. W. M? Beauchamp © states: 
Among the Onondaga now eight bones or stones are used, black on one side 
and white on the other. They term the game ta-you-nyun-wat-hah, or finger 
shaker, and from 100 to 300 beans form the pool, as may be agreed. With 
them it is also a household game. In playing this the pieces are raised in the 
hand and scattered, the desired result being indifferently white or black. 
Essentially, the counting does not differ from that given by Morgan. Two 
white or two black will have six of one color, and these count 2 beans, called 
o-yt-ah, or the bird. The player proceeds until he loses, when his opponent 
takes his turn. Seven white er black gain 4 beans, called o-néo-sah, or pump- 
kin. All white or all black gain 20, called o-hén-tah, or a field. These are all 
that draw anything, and we may indifferently say with the Onondaga two 
white or black for the first, or six with the Seneca. The game is played singly 
or by partners, and there is no limit to the number. Usually there are three 
or four players. 
In counting the gains there is a kind of ascending reduction; for as two 
birds make one pumpkin, only one bird can appear in the result. First come 
the twenties, then the fours, then the twos, which can occur but once. Thus 
we may say for twenty, jo-han-t6-tah, you have one field or more, as the case 
may be. In the fours we can only say ki-yae-ne-you-sfh-ka, you have four 
pumpkins, for five would make a field. For two beans there is the simple 
announcement of o-yG-ah, bird. 
The game of peach stones, much more commonly used and important, has a 
more public character, although I have played it in an Indian parlor. In early 
days the stones of the wild plum were used, but now six peach stones are ground 
down to an elliptic flattened form, the opposite sides being black or white. 
This is the great game known as that of the dish nearly three centuries ago. 
The wooden bowl which I used was 11 inches across the top and 3 inches deep, 
handsomely carved out of a hard knot. A beautiful small bowl, which I saw 
elsewhere, may have been used by children. The six stones are placed in the 
kah-o6n-wah, the bowl, and thence the Onondaga term the game ta-yune-oo- 
wih-es, throwing the bow] to each other as they take it in turn. In public 
playing two players are on their knees at a time, holding the bowl between 
them. . . . Beans are commonly used for counters. Many rules are settled 
according to agreement, but the pumpkin is left out, and the stones usually 
count 5 for a bird and 6 for a field. All white or all black is the highest throw, 
and 5 or 6 are the only winning points. In early days it would seem that all 
white or all black alone counted. The bow] is simply struck on the floor. . . . 
This ancient game is used at the New Year's, or White Dog, feast among the 
Onandaga yet. Clan plays against clan, the Long House against the Short 
House, and, to foretell the harvest, the women play against the men. If the 
men win, the ears of corn will be long, like them; but if the women gain the 
game, they will be short, eee the results on the common proportion of the 
sexes. As of old, almost all games are yet played for the sick, but they are 
regarded now more as a diversion of the patient’s mind than a means of heal- 
ing. The game of the dish was once much used in divination, each piece having 
its own familiar spirit, but it is more Commonly a social game now. 
«Troquois Games. Journal of American Folk-lore, vy. 9, p. 269, Boston, 1896. 
