404 GAMES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS  [eru. ann. 24 
The players stand about ten feet distant from the nearest barrier, and the 
stick is thrown, as in underhand bowling, directly at the nearest barrier, which 
it approaches with a gliding motion. The object of the game is to pass the 
stick through the entire set of barriers at one throw, which wins the game; 
points may be counted, however, according to the number of barriers penetrated 
by the dart. 
in the case of a tie between players, the winner in the play-off must pass his 
dart through all barriers four times. 
Fig. 519, Snow dart (shooceeman); length, 18} inches; Cree Indians, Assiniboia; cat. no. 61991, 
Field Columbian Museum. 
Cat. no. 61990. Flat stick (figure 520), one end pointed and curved 
upward; length, 144 inches. 
Tt is described by the collector under the name of esquayopuckit- 
seeman : 
Game played by women exclusively. Similar to game cat. no. 61989, except 
that the ice path is made with numerous turnings and is not impeded by 
barriers. The ice path is also made much narrower, being but little wider than 
the dart itself. The passage of the dart around the several turnings is equiva- 
jent to the passing of the dart through the snow barriers in the men’s games. 
#1G. 520. Snow-dart (esquayopuckitseeman); length, 14} inches; Cree Indians, Assiniboia; cat. 
no. 61990, Field Columbian Museum, 
All of the preceding specimens were collected by Mr J. A. Mitchell. 
Grosventres. Fort Belknap, Montana. (Cat. no. ;3$,, American 
Museum of Natural History.) 
End of beef rib, having two wooden pegs inserted at one end, upon 
which feathers are stuck; length, 24 inches. A model collected 
by Dr A. L. Kroeber. 
Mernomrner. Wisconsin. 
Dr Walter J. Hoffman ¢ describes the following game: 
Another game for both amusement and gambling was termed the snow-snake, 
and was undoubtedly derived from the Ojibwa. It was played during the 
winter, either in the snow or on the ice, and the only article necessary con- 
sisted of a piece of hard wood, from 5 to 6 feet long and from one-half to three- 
fourths of an inch thick. The head was bulb-like and shaped like a snake, with 
eyes and a cross cut to denote the mouth. This rounded end permitted it to 
pass over slight irregularities in its forward movements. The player would 
grasp the end, or tail, of the snake by putting the index finger agaizst the end 
and the thumb on one side, opposite to which would be the remaining three 
fingers; then stooping toward the ground the snake was held horizontally from 
«The Menomini Indians. fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, p. 244, 
4896. 
