cULIN] RACKET: MOHAWK 591 
throw the ball through from a distance or to carry the ball into the goal on his 
club. These two are chosen rather for their skill and vigilance than for fleet- 
ness of foot. 
It was considered a great feat for a player to take the ball on his bat, elude 
his pursuers and opponents, outplay the door-guard, and thus carry the ball into 
the goal, especially if he was able to walk into the goal. The side whose player 
did this would taunt the other side by saying, “It lay on the club when it 
entered.” 
The game was opened by the two captains holding their clubs crossed in the 
form of a Maltese cross with the ball placed midway between the ends of the 
network on each club; then by a steady push each captain endeavors to throw 
the ball in the direction of the goal to which his side must bear it. 
Like all other public games of the Iroquois, the ball game was to the specta- 
tors a fayorite opportunity for betting, and many would wager and lose all their 
possessions. 
The Iroquois prefer the ancient to the modern style of the game, for in the 
former they had a greater opportunity to exhibit their skill, strength, and fleet- 
ness of foot individually, whereas in the modernized form of the game, I believe, 
there is more team-play. 
Previous to a matched game the players would go through a course of strin- 
gent fasting, bathing, and emetics. The latter were decoctions of the bark of 
spotted alder and red willow. 
The contending parties of ball players all carried some charm or talisman to 
insure their victory. Shamans were hired by individual players to exert their 
supernatural powers in their own behalf and for their side, and when a noted 
wizard openly espoused the cause of one of the parties the players of the other 
side felt to a certain extent disheartened. 
The game was played during spring, summer, and fall; and formerly the 
players painted and adorned themselves in their most approved style. 
The game generally begins in the afternoon; seldom, if ever, in the forenoon. 
It is usually followed by a dance at night, accompanied by a feast. 
Mowawk. Grand river, Ontario. 
Col. William H. Stone,* referring to the ball game, which he errone- 
ously declares the Six Nations adopted from the whites, describes a 
match played at Grand river between the Mohawk and Seneca in 
GOI: 
The combatants numbered about six hundred upon a side. The 
goals, designated by two pair of byes, were 30 rods apart and the 
goals of each pair about 30 feet apart. Each passage of the ball be- 
tween them counted a point, but the tally chiefs were allowed to check 
or curtail the count in order to protract the game. The ball was put 
in play by a beautiful girl. 
Caughnawaga, Quebec. 
J. A. Cuoq ” gives the following definitions: 
Atenno, paume, balle, pelote 4 jouer; atstsikwahe, crosse de jouer, baton re- 
courbé, raquette pour le jeu de crosse; tekatsikwaheks, frapper la balle, jouer a 
la crosse. 
«Life of Brant, v. 2, p. 447, Cooperstown, 1844. 
> Lexique de la Langue Iroquoise, Montreal, 1882. 
