212 GAMES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS  [eru. ann. 24 
These sets were intended for actual use and are made of heavy cane, 
with the inside charred at the edges, unlike the sacrificial sets, which 
consist of common marsh reed. 
Fig. 288. Cane dice; length, 6: inches; showing method of tying in bundle; Zuni Indians, Zuni, 
New Mexico; cat. no. 22593, Free Museum of Science and Art, University of Pennsylvania. 
Zuni. Zuni, New Mexico. (Cat. no. 22593, Free Museum of Science 
and Art, University of Pennsylvania.) 
Four split canes, 62 inches in length, marked on one side with cross 
lines and chevrons and on the other with ink, as shown in figure 
288. Collected by the writer in 1902. 
These are bound together in a bundle with string, one inside of the 
other, so that the end of the top cane projects beyond that of the one 
below it, and so on down. The sticks are arranged in the following 
order: Top, black in middle; second, black at one end; third, all 
black; bottom, black at both ends. 
The figure illustrates one of the ways in which the canes are tied 
up when not in use. This is one of a number of sets collected in Zuni 
by the writer. The markings vary considerably in detail on the dif- 
ferent sets, but are all essentially the same. In removing the bundle 
of canes from the cloth in which it was wrapped, the owner took up 
each cane in turn and breathed on it. 
— New Mexico. (Cat. no. 4984, Brooklyn Institute Museum.) 
Set of four cane dice, 6 inches in length (figure 289). Collected by 
the writer in 1904. 
The etched figures on the dice represent the water bug, gannastepi. 
The drawing below (figure 290) shows the manner in which these 
dice are arranged and bound together when not in use. 
Mr Cushing placed in my hands the following account of sholiwe :2 
The game of sho’-li-we is certainly the most distinctive of any practiced by 
the Zuni Indians. It is not confined to them, but forms of it are found among 
all the more settled of the present Indians in both our own southwest, and in 
northern, western, and central Mexico; while variants of it and derived games 
may be traced over well-nigh the whole western half of our continent. 
A study of the distinctive marks of the different sticks or cane slips used in 
this game by the Zuni would seem to indicate that this peculiar form of it is the 
most primitive. The reason for this will subsequently appear. 
v. 39, p. 41, 1891). The names of the four sticks he gives as follows: The one whose 
concave side is entirely black, quin, Zuni for black; the one with one black end, path-to; 
with two black ends, kO-ha-kwa; and one with a black center, ath-lu-a. He figures two 
of the reeds, and the manner of holding the sticks, which he describes as thrown with 
the right hand against a suspended blanket and allowed to fall on another blanket. 
Two of the pieces belong to each man and are companions. There is a pool with twelve 
markers, and he who wins the markers wins the game. The winner takes the twelve 
markers up into his hands and breathes on them. This is because they have been good 
to him and allowed him to win. It is wholly a game of chance, and horses, guns, sad- 
dles, and everything are staked upon the throw. 
