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CULIN] HAND GAME: NISQUALLI 
OtoLopa. California. 
A. Delano? says: 
Another is with two small pieces of bone, one of which is hollow. These they 
roll in a handful of grass, and tossing them in the air several times, accompanied 
with a monotonous chant, they suddenly pull the ball of grass in two with the 
hands, and the antagonist guesses which hand the hollow bone is in. They 
have small sticks for counters, and, as they win or lose, a stick is passed from 
one to the other till the close of the game, when he who has the most sticks is 
the winner. They will sometimes play all day long, stopping only to eat. 
SALISHAN STOCK 
Bexuacooita. British Columbia. (Cat. no. 18396, 
18397, Field Columbian Museum.) 
Two bones from two sets, 34; inches in length, 
and three-fourths of an inch in diameter at = 
the middle; rounded at ends. Neither bone F!6- 39. Bones for 
S ? hand game; length, 
is marked (figure 390). Collected by Capt. 34, inches; Bellacoo- 
Samuel Jacobsen. la Indians, British 
Columbia; cat. no. 
Cuattam. Washington. 18396, 18397, Field Co- 
5 4 , lumbian Museum, 
A Clallam boy, John Raub, described this tribe ane 
as playing the hand game with four bones, under the name of slahal. 
The four bones are used, two plain and two with a black mark around the 
middle. The former are called swai-ka, “man,” and the latter sla-ni, “ woman.” 
Nisquatur. Washington. 
George Gibbs” says: 
There are several games, the principle of which is the same. In one a small 
piece of bone is passed rapidly from hand to hand, shifted behind the back, etc.. 
the object of the contending party being to ascertain in which hand it is held. 
Each side is furnished with five or ten small sticks. which serve to mark the 
game, one stick being given by the guesser whenever he loses, and received when- 
ever he wins. On guessing correctly, it is his turn to manipulate. When all 
the sticks are won, the game ceases, and the winner receives the stakes, consist- 
ing of clothing or any other articles, as the play may be either high or low, for 
simple amusement, or in eager rivalry. The backers of the party manipulating 
keep up a constant drumming with sticks on their paddles. which lie before 
them, singing an incantation to attract good fortune. This is usually known as 
the game of hand, or, in jargon, It-lu-kam. . . . Each species of gambling 
has its appropriate tamahno-is, or, as it is called upon the Sound, Skwolalitud, 
that is, its patron spirit, whose countenance is invoked by the chant and noise. 
The tamahno-is of the game of hand is called by the Nisqually, Tsaik:; of the 
disks, Knawk’h. It would seem that this favor is not merely solicited during 
the game, but sometimes in advance of it, and perhaps for general or continued 
fortune. 
“Life on the Plains, p. 307, Auburn, 1854. 
> Tribes of Western Washington and Northwestern Oregon. Contributions to North 
American Ethnology, v. 1, p. 206, Washington, 1877. 
