GUESSING GAMES 
Srick GAMES 
The implements for the stick games are of two principal kinds. 
The first, directly referable to arrow shaftments, consists (a) of 
small wooden cylinders, painted with bands or ribbons of color, simi- 
lar to those on arrow shaftments, employed by the Indians of the 
Athapasecan, Chimmesyan, Chinookan, Copehan, Koluschan, Sali- 
shan, Skittagetan, and Wakashan stocks of the Pacific coast; (>) of 
fine splints, longer than the preceding, of which one or more in a set 
are distinguished by marks, employed by the Indians of the Athapas- 
can, Lutuamian, Shastan, Weitspekan, and Wishoskan tribes near the 
Pacific coast; (c) of sticks and rushes, entirely unmarked, employed 
by the Indians of the Algonquian, Iroquoian, Kulanapan, Siouan, 
and Washoan tribes. The marks on the implements of the first sort 
are understood as referring to various totemic animals, ete., which 
are actually carved or painted on some of the sets. 
In the second form of the game the sticks are replaced by flat disks, 
variously marked on the edges. In this form the game is played by 
Indians of the Chinookan, Salishan, Shahaptian, and Wakashan 
stocks, and is confined to the Pacific coast. 
The number of sticks or disks varies from ten to more than a hun- 
dred, there being no constant number. The first operation in the 
game, that of dividing the sticks or disks into two bundles, is invari- 
ably the same. The object is to guess the location of an odd or a par- 
ticularly marked stick. On the Pacific coast the sticks or disks are 
usually hidden in a mass of shredded cedar bark. On the Atlantic 
coast the sticks are commonly held free in the hands. In one instance 
it is recorded that the guesser uses a pointer to indicate his choice. 
The count is commonly kept with the sticks or disks themselves, the 
players continuing until one or the other has won all. 
On the Northwest coast the sets of sticks are almost uniformly con- 
tained in a leather pouch, sometimes with the inner side painted, with 
a broad flap to which a long thong is attached, passing several times 
around the pouch, and having a pointed strip of bone, horn, or ivory 
at the end. The latter is slipped under the thong as a fastening. 
The identification of these sticks with arrow shaftments is aided by 
comparison with the banded shaftments of actual arrows, as, for 
example, those of the Hupa (figure 307). Figure 308 represents a 
cut shaftment of an actual arrow, still bearing bands of red paint, 
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