476 GAMES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS _[27TH. ann. 24 
Seneca. New York. 
Lewis H. Morgan “ describes the game as follows: 
The game of javelins, gii-na’-gii-o, was very simple, depending upon the dex- 
terity with which the javelin was thrown at a ring, as it rolled upon the ground. 
They frequently made it a considerable game, by enlisting skillful players to 
prepare for the contest and by betting upon the result. The people divided by 
tribes, the four brothers playing against their four cousin tribes, as in the last 
case [ball], unless the game was played on a challenge between neighboring 
communities. 
The javelin was 5 or 6 feet in length by three-fourths of an inch in diameter, 
and was usually made of hickory or maple. It was finished with care, 
sharpened at one end, and striped as shown in the figure [618]. The ring was 
about § inches in diameter, made either into a hoop or solid like a wheel, by wind- 
ing with splints. Sometimes the javelin was thrown horizontally, by placing 
the forefinger against its foot, and supporting it with the thumb and second 
finger: in other cases it was held in the center, and thrown with the hand 
raised above the shoulder. 
On either side from fifteen to thirty players were arranged, each having from 
three to six javelins, the number of both depending upon the interest in the 
game and the time they wished to devote to the contest. The javelins them- 
selves were the forfeit, and the game was gained by the party which won them. 
Among the preliminaries to be settled by the managers, was the line on 
which the ring was to be rolled, the distance of the two bands of players from 
each other, and the space between each and the line itself. When these points 
Fia. 618. Hoop and pole; diameter of hoop, 6 inches; length of pole, 5} feet; Seneca Indians, 
New York; from Morgan. 
were adjusted and the parties stationed, the ring was rolled by one party on 
the line, in front of the other. As it passed the javelins were thrown. If the 
ring was struck by one of them the players of the adverse party were required, 
each in turn, to stand in the place of the person who struck it, and throw their 
javelins in succession at the ring, which was set up as a target, on the spot 
where it was hit. Those of the javelins which hit the target when thus thrown 
were saved; if any missed, they were passed to the other party, and by them 
were again thrown at the ring from the same point. Those which hit were 
won, finally, and laid out of the play, while the residue were restored to their 
original owners. After this first contest was decided, the ring was rolled back, 
and the other party, in turn, threw their javelins. If it was struck, the party 
which rolled it was required, in the same manner, to hazard their javelins, by 
throwing them at the target. Such as missed were delivered to the other party, 
and those which hit the target when thrown by them, were won also, and laid 
“League of the Iroquois, p. 298, Rochester, 1851. See also Report to the Regents of 
the University upon the Articles furnished to the Indian Collection by Lewis H. Morgan. 
Third Annual Report of the Regents of the University on the Condition of the State 
Cabinet of Natural History and the Historical and Antiquarian Collections annexed 
thereto, p, 79, Albany, 1850. 
