STRING-FIGURES FROM THE UPPER POTARO*. 
By Frank EK. Lurz, Px.D. 
Often apparently trivial things are, when looked at from another view- 
point of importance, as well as interest. This is true of string-figures 
or “Cat’s Cradles.”’ Such games are played throughout the world, but the 
manner of playing them differs greatly, and anthropologists are taking an 
increasing interest in them, hoping that they will eventually throw some light 
upon racial and tribal relationships. 
Although many such games have been described from widely-scattered 
regions there is a dearth of data for South American natives. Dr. W. E. 
Roth collected twenty-four string-figures from the Arawak and Warrau on the 
Pomeroon and Moruca Rivers (Reveu des Etudes Ethnographiques et Sociolo- 
giques. 1908, p. 193), but did not give directions for making them. With the 
exception of the “ fish trap ”’ they are totally diflerent from anything I saw 
on the Potaro and, on the whole, are much more complicated than the latter, 
or for that matter than the world-wide average. As the ones here described 
are from near the Brazilian frontier they represent one of the wild interior 
tribes in contrast to those from the coast among whom Dr. Roth collected. 
INTRODUCTION. 
While on a zoological expedition in British Guiana, I camped for about a 
month in the vicinity of Kaieteur Falls. Our Indian helpers came from near 
the Brazilian border, still further up the Potaro River. Among them was a 
bright little fellow about twelve years old, who was with me nearly the whole 
time and who taught me the figures described here. As usual, he would not tell 
his real name, but, as “‘ Crickety ’’ described his happy disposition and sounded 
something like the one he gave, it was the name that was used. 
These Indians called themselves Patomana. The name is doubtless synony- 
mous with Paramona, a sub-tribe of the Ackawoi, of Carib stock. They are 
almost entirely untouched by civilisation although most of them have at least 
seen strangers and a few of them wear white man’s clothes. Crickety was 
apparently a champion string-figure artist, as ten or a dozen of the Indians 
with whom we came in contact tried to show me figures he had not, but failed. 
The notes given here include all that either rivalry or promises of gifts could 
extract, so that they are probably rather complete for that section. 
The chief point of difference from the figures made by other primitive 
peoples, as a whole, seems to lie in the common use these Indians make of the 
shift of loops from the fingers of one hand to the corresponding fingers of 
the other hand. It is interesting that, with the exception of “tricks ” none 
* Reprinted with slight changes, from Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of 
Natural History Vol. xii. Parta.. By permission. 
