616 GAMES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS  [nru. ann. 24 
Caleb Atwater * (1829) says: 
They also play ball, in which sport great numbers engage, on each side, and 
the spectators bet largely on each side. The articles played for are placed in 
view of those who play the game. These consist of beads, paints, jewels, etc. 
This game is very animated and excites great interest. 
In regard to the Winnebago in Wisconsin, Mr Reuben G. Thwaites ® 
says: 
The vigorous game of lacrosse—nowadays familiar to patrons of state and 
county fairs of this section, at which professional bands of Chippewas exhibit 
their skill—was, in earlier days, much played by the Winnebagoes. It was 
usually played at La Crosse—Prairie la Crosse deriving its name from this 
fact—during the general rendezvous after the winter’s hunt. The Winnebagoes 
having always clung to the water-courses and heavy timber, during their 
winter’s trapping and hunting, would float down the rivers to La Crosse, and 
there have their feasts and lacrosse games, meet the traders, and indulge in a 
big spree. Occasionally they played lacrosse in their villages, but this was not 
common. It was considered to be more especially a spring festival game. 
I never hear, nowadays, of the Wisconsin Winnebagoes playing it, and in fact I 
never saw it in this state, but when I was at the mission on Turkey river 
I frequently saw the Indians there indulge in it.°. . . These games were 
always for heavy stakes in goods. ; 
Fig. 787. 
Fig. 786. 
Fia. 786. Ball; diameter, 3 inches; Winnebago Indians, Wisconsin; cat. no. 22159, Free Museum 
of Science and Art, University of Pennsylvania. - 
Fia. 787. Racket; length, 26} inches; Winnebago Indians, Wisconsin; cat. no. 22160, Free Museum 
of Science and Art, University of Pennsylvania. 
SHINNY 
Shinny is especially a woman’s game, but it is also played by men 
alone (Assiniboin, Yankton, Mohave, Walapai), by men and women 
alone (Sauk and Foxes, Tewa, Tigua), by men and women together 
(Sauk and Foxes, Assiniboin), by men against women (Crows). It 
may be regarded as practically universal among the tribes throughout 
the United States. As in racket, the ball may not be touched with the 
hand, but is both batted and kicked with the foot. A single bat is 
ordinarily used, but the Makah have two, one for striking and the 
other for carrying the ball. The rackets are invariably curved, and 
usually expanded at the striking end. In some instances they are 
painted or carved. 
«The Indians of the Northwest, p. 118, Columbus, 1850. 
>The Wisconsin Winnebagoes. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 
v. 12, p. 426, Madison, 1892, 
