806 GAMES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS  [xru. ann. 24 
PIMAN STOCK 
Pima. Arizona. 
The late Dr Frank Russell “ wrote as follows of relay races: 
At various points in Arizona I have found what appear to have been ancient 
race tracks situated near the ruins of buildings. Oné of these was seen on the 
south bank of the Babacomari, 3 miles above the site of old Fort Wallen. It is 
5 meters wide and 275 meters long. It is leveled by cutting down in places, and 
the rather numerous bowlders of the mesa are cleared away. In the Sonoita 
valley, 2 miles east of Patagonia, there is a small ruin with what may have 
been a race track. It is 6 meters wide and 180 meters long. At the northern 
end stands a square stone 37 centimeters above the surface. These will serve 
as examples of the tracks used by the Sobaipuris, a tribe belonging to the Piman 
stock. The dimensions are about the same as those of the tracks that I have 
seen the Jicarilla Apaches using in New Mexico. The tracks prepared by the 
Pimas opposite Sacaton Plats and at Casa Blanca are much longer. 
The relay races of the Pimas did not differ materially from those among the 
Pueblo tribes of the Rio Grande or the Apaches and others of the Southwest. 
When a village wished to race with a neighboring one, they sent a messenger to 
convey the information that in four or five days, according to the decision of 
their council, they wished to test their fortunes in a relay race, and that in the 
meantime they were singing the bluebird (or, as the case might be, the hum- 
mingbird) songs and dances in preparation. Both had the same time to prac- 
tice, and the time was short. In this preparation the young men ran in groups 
of four or five. There were forty or fifty runners in each village, and he who 
proved to be the swiftest was recognized as the leader who should run first in 
the final contest. It was not necessary that each village should enter the same 
number of men in the race; a man might run any number of times that his 
endurance permitted. When the final race began each village stationed half its 
runners at each end of the track, then a crier called three times for the leaders, 
and as the last call (which was long drawn out) closed the starter shouted 
“Ta'wai!” and they were off on the first relay. Markers stood at the side of 
the track and held willow sticks with rags attached as marks of the position of 
the opposing sides. Sometimes a race was ended by one party admitting that 
it was tired out, but it usually was decided when the winners were so far ahead 
that their runner met the other at the center, where the markers also met. The 
women encouraged their friends with shouts in concert, which were emitted 
trom the throat and ended in a trill from the tongue. At the close of the race 
the winning village shouted continuously for some time, after which the vis- 
itors would go home, as there was no accompanying feast. 
SALISHAN STOCK 
Tuomeson Inprans (Ntlakyapamuk). British Columbia. 
Mr James Teit ’ says: 
Foot races were frequently run, and bets made on the result. The best run- 
ners traveled long distances to meet each other. Sometimes celebrated Okan- 
agan, Shushwap, and Thompson runners competed with one anotber. The 
“Tn a memoir to be published by the Bureau of American Ethnology. 
’The Thompson Indians of British Columbia. Memoirs of the American Museum of 
Natural History, whole series, vy. 2, p. 280, New York, 1900. 
