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History Of Use

Games of chance have long been popular among the native people of the Northwest Coast. Several different types of games were played; 'hand' and 'stick' games involved an opponent guessing where a specially marked stick, disk or bone was located. These games were played by men and apparently for very high stakes. Counters were used to keep score. It was believed that supernatural powers could affect the outcome of a game, therefore ritual preparations for games were important. Hand games were introduced to the northern areas from the south, where they remain popular today.

Cultural Context

gambling

Description

Game sticks composed of nine cylindrical sticks that have a small, raised round knob at each end, and faint black and red lines on a polished surface: a) one thin black line at one end, three equidistant thin red lines at centre, black staining; b) two thin black lines at one end, three equidistant red lines at centre, light black staining; c) plain, no design; d) plain, no design; e) three thin red equidistant lines at centre, three faint, red diagonal lines equally spaced over surface; f) thick black lines at one end, three thin, equidistant black lines at centre, light black staining around one end; g) slightly off-centre, thick black line is bordered by thin red lines; h) series of lines, one thin red, one thick black, thin red, thick red, two thin red; i) thick black lines border two wide red bands.