cuLIN] DICE GAMES: ZUNI 915 
scored, or carved to correspond), evidently to keep the paint from being worn 
off by handling and casting. 
Thus the cane slip of the North was banded only at the middle, and was 
called a’-thlu-a, or the all speeder, sender (a, all, and thlu-ah, to run, speed, or 
stand ready). 
The cane slip of the West was blackened its full length and was called 
k’wi’-ni-kwa, or the Black (medicine), from k’wi’-na, black, and ak’-kwa, 
“medicine” or “ sacred.” 
The cane slip of the South was doubly banded, as was the arrow of the South, 
and was called pathl-to-a, or divider divided (bordered, enclosed), from pathl-to, 
border edge, end, and oa, to become, to do, or make to do. 
Finally, the cane slip of the East was banded only at one end, and was called 
ko’ha-kwa ,the white, or the White Medicine (ko’-ha-na, white, and ak’-kwa, 
“ medicine "’). 
In addition to the banding and scoring of these cane slips, they were, in 
eases of great importance, as in sets made from the captured arrows of some 
celebrated foeman, notched at the ends, as I have said the cock feathers 
were notched; but this old practice has fallen into disuse to such extent that 
I have seen only one yenerated set so notched. In this set, if I observed 
aright, the notches corresponded in number as well as in place, whether at the 
sides or in the middle of the ends with the number and positions of the bandings 
and of the tuftings on the cock feathers of the arrows from which, probably, 
they were made. The normal numerical value-of the cane slips agreed with 
the successional values of the regions they belonged to—that is, the slip of the 
North made one; that of the West, two; that of the South, three, and that of 
the East, four. But as this gave unequal values, other values or counts were 
added, according as the slips fell concaye or convex sides uppermost, and 
especially according to the thrower. 
That this may be understood, the general nature of the game as essentially 
a sacred tribal process of divination must be considered. Formerly sho’-li-we 
was exclusively a game of war divination, and was played only by priests of 
the Bow, members of the esoteric society of war shamans. 
These members were, according to their totems and clans, members of the clan 
groups corresponding to the several quarters or sacred precints of North, West, 
South, East, Upper, Lower, and Middle regions. But since there were only 
four regions concerned in the waging of war, clansmen of the upper and nether 
regions were relegated to the east and west, since the places of the upper and 
lower regions in the sacred diagram were in the northeast—between the East 
and North, and in the southwest—between the West and South; while clansmen 
of the middle might, as determined by the casts of their arrow canes, belong to 
any one of the other regions, since the midmost was the synthetic region, the 
all-containing and the all-contained place, either the first, therefore, or the last. 
This war game of the priests of the Bow was played semiannually at the festi- 
vals of the Twin Gods of War, Ahaiyuta and Matsailema, patrons of the game 
by virtue of their vanquishment of the creational god of gambling Mi’-si-na, the 
Eagle star god, whose forfeited head now hangs in the Milky Way, and whose 
birds are the god servants of war and the plumers of the canes of war. 
It is played at such times as a tribal divination; a forecast for war or peace, 
for prosperity or adversity, and is accompanied by tribal hazards and gambling. 
But at other times it is played for the determination of peace or war, of the 
direction or precaution to be taken in defensive or offensive operations or 
preparations. As thus played, there must be four participants. Each pos- 
sesses his own canes. In the uppermost room of the ~. “blo (now fallen), 
there was formerly a shrine of the game. Here during terrific sand storms or 
