CULIN] RACKET: CHICKASAW 597 
Each woman ¢arries a pair of these baskets, called am-mut’-nah, one in each 
hand. She catches the ball in the larger one and covers it with the other while 
she runs off with it toward the goal. The men try to kick the ball, but can not 
lay hands on it. 
Torrxacuem. Big creek, Tuolumne county, California. (Cat. no. 
70220, 70226, Field Columbian Museum.) 
Two oval wicker baskets (figure 769), 13 inches in length, with 
handle; and buckskin-covered ball, 34 inches in diameter. 
Collected by Dr J. W. Hudson, who describes them as used in the 
game of umta, played by both men and women. The baskets re- 
semble the seed-flail baskets used in this region. 
California. 
Mr H. H. Bancroft“ says: 
... they have one or two games 
which require some exertion. One 
of these, in yogue among the Mee- 
woes, is played with bats and an 
oak-knot ball. The former are made 
of a pliant stick, having the end 
bent round and lashed to the main 
part, so as to form a loop, which is 
filled with a network of strings. 
They do not strike but push the ball 
Fic. 769. Balland ball-casting basket; diameter 4 : 1 
’ along with these bats. The players 
of ball, 3} inches; length of basket, 13 inches; = pa 
Topinagugim Indians, Tuolumne county, Cali- take sides, and each party endeay- 
fornia; cat. no. 70220, 70226, Field Columbian ors to drive the ball past the bound- 
Museum. aries of the other. 
Big creek, 2 miles north of Groveland, Tuolumne county, 
California. 
Dr J. W. Hudson describes the following game under the name of 
sakumship : 
Two women, standing 50 feet apart, throw a 4-inch ball of buckskin filled 
with hair, each using two baskets to throw the ball, which they may not touch 
with their hands. The casting baskets, called shak-num-sia, are made somewhat 
stronger than the a-ma-ta. 
This is a great gambling game between women, and is played for high stakes. 
It is counted with sticks, and a player forfeits one if she fails to catch or throw 
the ball so that it goes beyond the other’s reach. 
MUSKHOGEAN STOCK 
Cuickasaw. Mississippi. ~ 
Adam Hodgson ” says: 
As we were riding along toward sunset, we saw many parties of Chickasaws 
repairing to a dance and ball-play. The magnificence of their dresses exceeded 
anything we had yet seen. 
"The Native Races of the Pacific Coast, v. 1, p. 393, San Francisco, 1874. 
® Remarks during a Journey through North America, p. 283, New York, 1823. 
