256 GAMES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS _ [ern ann. 24 
After all had been thrown down, and only one trump or ringed stick was found 
among them, then it was known that the other was the one left in the grass, 
and therefore that the other player had left the winning stick. But if both 
trumps came out when the sticks were thrown down then it was known that he 
had put aside the winning stick and left the other, and thus lost. Afterwards 
the first player had to guess his opponent’s sticks in like manner. The stake 
was valued, according to agreement, at so many counters, and so many counters 
a chance. If a man lost four times in succession, he frequently lost the stake. 
Hach player had his own set of sticks, his mat, and his pointer. The names 
of the designs on the set represented in the figure [354] are given in the legend 
of the figure. They often accompanied the game with a song. This game has 
been out of use for many years. 
Twana. Washington. 
Rey. Myron Eells says they have three methods of gambling— 
with round blocks or disks, with bones, and the women’s game (the 
beaver-teeth dice game). He gives a more extended account of these 
games in his paper on the Indians of Washington Territory.” Con- 
cerning the game with disks he says: 
This is the men’s game, as a general thing, but sometimes all engage in it. 
There are ten of these disks in a set. All but one have a white or black and 
white rim. Five of them are kept under one hand of the player on a mat and 
five underneath the other hand, covered with cedar bark beaten fine. After 
being shuffled round and round for a short time, one of the opposite party 
guesses under which hand the disk with the black rim is. He tells this without 
a word, but with a peculiar motion of one hand. If he guesses right, he wins 
and plays next; but if his conjecture is incorrect, he loses and the other side 
continues to play. The two rows of players are 10 or 12 feet apart. Generally 
they have six or more sets of these blocks, so that if, as they suppose, luck does 
not attend one set, they can try another. These different sets are marked on 
the edges to distinguish them from other sets. Another way of distinguishing 
them is by having them of slightly different sizes. They are made very smooth 
of hard wood, sandpapered, and then by use are worn still smoother. In this 
game they keep tally with a number of sticks used as checks, about 8 inches long. 
The number of these varies according to the amount bet, twelve of them being 
used, it is said, when twenty dollars is wagered* I have never seen more than 
forty used. They begin with an equal number of checks for each party, and 
then each side tries to win all, one being transferred to the winner each time the 
game is won. If there is a large number used and fortune favors each party 
nearly alike, it takes a long time—sometimes three or four days—to finish a 
game. This game is sometimes played by only two persons, but usually there 
are many engaged in it. In the latter case, when one player becomes tired or 
thinks he is in bad luck another takes his place. 
Another form of this game is called the tamanous game. <A large number of 
people who have a tamanous, including the women, take part in it, but the men 
only shuffle the disks. The difference between this form of the disk game and 
the other form consists in the tamanous. While one man plays the other mem- 
bers of his party beat a drum, clasp their hands, and sing; each one, I believe, 
singing his or her own tamanous song to invoke the aid of his special guardian 
spirit. I was lately present at one of these games where forty tally blocks 
or checks were used, and which lasted for four days, when all agreed to stop, 
« Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey, v. 3, n. 1, p. 88, Washington, 1877. 
> Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1887, pt. 1, p. 648, 1889. 
