584 GAMES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS  [ETH. ANN, 24 
“There, in the third heaven, are the pleasing stakes. The Red Tla’niwa has 
come and made himself one of them, never to be defeated. There, in the fourth 
heaven, are the pleasing stakes. The Crested Flycatcher has come and joined 
them, that they may never be defeated. There, in the fifth heaven, are the 
pleasing stakes. The Marten has come and joined them, that they may never 
be defeated. 
“The other lovers of the ball play—the Blue Mole has become one with 
them, that they may never feel triumphant. They are doomed to failure. 
“There, in the sixth heaven, the Chimney Swift has become one with them, 
that they may never be defeated. There are the pleasing stakes. There, in the 
seventh heaven, the Dragonfly has become one of them, that they may never be 
defeated. There are the pleasing stakes. 
“As for the other lovers of the ball play, the Bear has come and fastened him- 
self to them, that they may never be triumphant. He has caused the stakes to 
slip out of their hands, and their share has dwindled to nothing. Their fate is 
forecast. 
“See! Now let me know that the twelve (runs) are mine, O White Dragon- 
fly. Let me know that their share is mine—that the stakes are mine. Now, he 
[the rival player] is compelled to let go his hold upon the stakes. They [the 
shaman’s clients] are become exultant and gratified. Ya!” 
This ceremony ended, the players form in line, headed by the shaman, and 
march in single file to the ball ground, where they find awaiting them a 
crowd of spectators—men, women and children—sometimes -to the number 
of several hundred, for the Indians always turn out to the ball play, no matter 
how great the distance, from old Big Witch, stooping under the weight of 
nearly a hundred years, down to babies slung at their mothers’ backs. The 
ball ground is a level field by the river side, surrounded by the high timber- 
covered mountains, At either end are the goals, each consisting of a pair of 
upright poles, between which the ball must be driven to make a run, the side 
which first makes 12 home runs being declared the winner of the game and the 
stakes. The ball is furnished by the challengers, who sometimes try to select 
one so small that it will fall through the netting of the ball sticks of their 
adversaries ; but as the others are on the lookout for this, the trick usually fails 
of its purpose. After the ball is once set in motion it must be picked up only 
with the ball sticks, although after having picked up the ball with the sticks the 
player frequently takes it in his hand, and, throwing away the sticks, runs with 
it until intercepted by one of the other party, when he throws it, if he can, to 
one of his friends further on. Should a player pick up the ball with his hand, 
as sometimes happens in the scramble, there at once arises all over the field a 
chorus of “ Uwa’yi Gati! Uwa’yi Gatti!’ ‘“ With the hand! with the hand! ’— 
equivalent to our own “ Foul! foul! ’—and that inning is declared a draw. 
While our men are awaiting the arrival of the other party, their friends crowd 
around them, and the women throw across their outstretched ball sticks the 
pieces of calico, the small squares of sheeting used as shawls, and the bright red 
handkerchiefs so dear to the heart of the Cherokee, which they intend to stake 
upon the game. It may be as well to state that these handkerchiefs take the 
place of hats, bonnets, and scarfs, the women throwing them over their heads in 
shawl fashion and the men twisting them like turbans about their hair, while 
both sexes alike fasten them about their throats or use them as bags for carrying 
small packages. Knives, trinkets, and sometimes small coins, are also wagered. 
But these Cherokee to-day are poor indeed. Hardly a man among them owns a 
horse, and never again will a chief bet a thousand dollars upon his favorites, as 
was done in Georgia in 1884. To-day, however, as then, they will risk all they 
have. 
