348 CALEND.AE HISTORY OF THE KIOWA [EXH.AN-i. 17 



man Diivt-ko. The Kiowa leader was recognized distinctively as hav- 

 ing "medicine" for this game, and it was said that he could do wonderful 

 things witli the " button,'' making it pass invisibly from one hand to 

 another while he held his hands outstretched and far apart, and even 

 to throw it up iuto the air and cause it to remain there suspended invis- 

 ibly until he was ready to put out his hand again aud catch it; iu other 

 words, he was probably an expert sleight-of-hand performer. Ilis 

 Apache rival, Diiveko, is known as a medicine-man as well as a chief, 

 and is held iu considerable dread, as it is believed that he can kill by 

 shooting invisible darts from a distance into the body of an enemy. 

 On this occasion he had boasted that his medicine was superior for tiie 

 (loii game, which did not prove to be the case, however, and as the 

 Kiowa medicine-man won the victory for his party, large stakes were 

 wagered on the result and were won by the Kiowa. It is said that 

 this was a part of Pa-tepte's effort to revive the ohl customs and amuse- 

 ments on a large scale. The game was witnessed by 

 a large concourse, all dressed aud painted for the 

 occasion. The picture on the Set-t'an calendar is 

 very suggestive. 



The name don signifies the "tipi game," from do, 

 tipi or house, and «, a game, because, unlike most 



I of their games, it is played inside the ti})i, being 

 essentially a game for the long nights when the whole 

 tribe is assembled in the winter camp. A similar 

 game is found among nearly all our wild tribes; it is 

 played by both sexes, but never together. In its 

 general features it resembles our game of "hunt the 

 Fig. 171 — Winter 1881- button," the playcrs forming a circle around the fire 

 82— Do-A game; medi- in the tipi, ouc-lialf of tlieiii playing against the 

 "''®'''" others, sitting facing them on the opposite side of 



the fire. The leader of one party then takes the h'iiiho or button, a 

 short piece of stick wrapped around the middle vnth a strip of fur and 

 small enough to be concealed in the hand. Putting his closed hands 

 together, he raises his arms above his head, clasps them across his 

 chest or puts them behind his back, endeavoring to pass the Jciiibo 

 from one hand to another, or from his own hand to that of his next 

 partner, without being perceived by any of the opposite party, all the 

 while keeping time to the movements of his hands with one of the pecu- 

 liar do-d songs, in which the members of his party join. 



When the opposing player thinks he has detected in which hand the 

 other has concealed the stick, he indicates it with a peculiar jerk of his 

 tlnimb and index finger in that direction, with a lond Tsoq! (Comanche 

 for "That !"); if he has guessed correctly, he scores a certain number of 

 points, the account being kept by means of a bundle of green-painted 

 tally sticks. He then takes the Ic'iiiho and begins a similar set of 

 movements iu time to another song, in which his partners join ; so the 



