246 KEroET— 1888. 



Gambling. 



The Sai'cees, like most other wild Indians, are inveterate gamblers. 

 They will gamble everything away — ponies, teepees, blankets, leggings, 

 moccasins — till they have nothing left but their breech-clout. In my 

 report of the Blackfeet last year I mentioned the use of a little hoop or 

 wheel for gambling purposes. I find that the Sarcees also use this, and 

 two of them showed me how they play the game. A little piece of board, 

 if procurable, or two or three flattened sticks, laid one on the other, are 

 put for a target, at a distance of eighteen or twenty feet from the starting- 

 point, and the two players then take their places beside each other ; one 

 has the little wheel in his left hand, an arrow in his right ; the other one 

 has only an arrow. The play is to roll the wheel and to deliver the two 

 arrows simultaneously, all aiming at the mark which has been set up. 

 If the wheel falls over on one of the arrows, it counts so many points, 

 according to the number of beads on the wire spoke of the wheel that 

 touch the arrow. Nothing is counted unless the little wheel falls on one 

 of the arrows. The articles for which they play are valued at so many 

 points each. A blanket is worth, perhaps, ten points, a pony fifty, and so on. 



Another method by which these people gamble is as follows : Two 

 men squat side by side on the ground, with a blanket over tlieir knees, 

 and they have some small article, such as two or three brass beads tied 

 together, which they pass from one to another under the blanket ; and 

 the other side, which also consists of two persons, has to guess in which 

 hand the article is to be found — very much like our children's ' hunt the 

 whistle.' The Sarcees use also the English playing cards, but it is a 

 game of their own that they play with them. Whoever gets the most 

 cards is the winner. 



Mateimont. 



The Sarcees are polygamous, the men having two, three, or four 

 wives. The time of moving camp is generally looked upon as a pro- 

 pitious time for love-making. The camp is in the form of a ring, with 

 the horses picketed in the centre. Early in the morning the young men 

 drive the horses to a swamp or slough to water them. They are thinking, 

 perhaps, of some young squaw whom they wish to approach, but they 

 are ashamed to speak to her. Then, as soon as all is ready for the move, 

 the chief gives the word, and the callers summon the people to start on 

 the march. The chief goes first and leads the way. Now is the oppor- 

 tunity for the bashful young swains ; they drop behind the rest and 

 manage to ride alongside the young women of their choice, and to get a 

 few words into their ears. If the young woman approves the ofi'er, she 

 follows her white sister's example by referring the young man to her 

 parents. If the parents consent, mutual presents are exchanged, such as 

 horses, blankets, &c. ; the girl is dressed in her best, and her face painted, 

 and the young man takes her away. A husband can divorce himself 

 from his wife at any time if he pleases, but he has to restore the presents 

 that he received with her, or their equivalent. Girls are often betrothed 

 at ten years of age and married at fourteen. A betrothed girl may not 

 look in a man's face until after her marriage. A man may not meet his 

 mother-in-law ; if he chance to touch her accidentallj^ he must give her 

 a present. At a feast among the Blackfeet at which I was present an 

 impatient mother-in-law was standing without and sending messages to 

 the son-in-law within to make haste and leave before all the good things 



