514 GAMES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS  [sTH. ann. 24 
Omana. Nebraska. 
Rey. J. Owen Dorsey ¢ describes the following game: 
Banan’ge-kide, Shooting at the banange, or rolling wheel. This is played by 
two men. Hach one has in his hand two sticks, about as thick as one’s little 
finger, which are connected in the middle by a thong not over 4 inches in length. 
These sticks measure about 34 feet in length. Those of one player are red, and 
those of the other are black. The wheel which is rolled is about 24 feet in diam- 
eter, its rim is half an inch thick, and it extends about an inch from the cir- 
cumference toward the center. On this side of the rim that measures an inch, 
are four figures [figure 679]. The first is called maxu, marked with a knife, 
or mag¢eze, cut in stripes with a knife. The second is sabé té, the black one. 
The third is aki¢ité, crossing each other. The fourth is jinga tcé, the little one, 
the little one, or maxu jingd teé, the little one marked with a knife. The 
players agree which one of the figures shall be waqtbe for the game; that 
is, what card players call trumps. The wheel is pushed and caused to roll 
along, and when it has almost stopped, each man hits gently at it to make 
it fall on the sticks. Should the sticks fall on the top of the wheel, it does not 
count. When a player succeeds in lodging his sticks in such a way that he 
touches the waqtbe, he wins many sticks or arrows. When figures are touched 
by one or both of his sticks, he calls out the number. When any two of the 
figures have been touched, he says: “ Na"ba"’ a-ti ha,” “I have wounded it 
twice.” If three figures have been hit, he says, ‘‘¢ab ¢i" a-a ha,’ ‘‘I have 
wounded three.” Twenty arrows or sticks count as a blanket, twenty-five as a 
gun, and one hundred as a horse. 
In the story of “ The Man who had a Corn-woman and a Buffalo- 
woman as wives,” translated by Doctor Dorsey,’ it is related that the 
“buffalo bulls were playing this game.” He defines the name as 
“to shoot at something caused to roll by pushing.” 
Doctor Dorsey describes also— 
da¢i"-jahe, or Stick and Ring. qa¢i"-jahe is a game played by two men. At 
each end of the playground are two bia, or rounded heaps of earth. 
A ring [figure 678] of rope or hide, the wa¢igije, is rolled along the ground, 
and each player tries to dart a stick through it as it goes. He runs very swiftly 
after the hoop and thrusts the stick with considerable force. If the hoop turns 
aside as it rolls it is not difficult to thrust a stick in it. The stick 
{figure 678A] is about 4 feet long. D is the end that is thrust at 
the hoop. B B are the gaqa or forked ends for catching at the 
hoop. C C are made of ha nésage, wéabasta nfisage ika® ta", stiff 
hide, fastened to the forked ends with stiff wéabasta, or 
material used for the soles of moceasins. These ha nfésage 
D 
Fig. 678. Game ae and dart; length of dart, about 4 feet; Omaha Indians, Nebraska; from 
Dorsey. 
often serve to prevent the escape of the hoop from the forked ends. Sometimes 
these ends alone catch or hook the loop. Sometimes the end D is thrust through 
it. When both sticks catch the hoop neither one wins. 
The stakes are eagle feathers, robes, blankets, arrows, earrings, necklaces, ete.¢ 
«QOmaha Sociology. Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, p. 335, 1884. 
b The Qegiha Language. Contributions to North American Ethnology, v. 6, p. 162, Washing- 
ton, 1890. 
¢ Omaha Sociology. Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, p. 337, 1884. 
