Handgame
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Handgame, or stickgame, is a Native American guessing game where one team hides marked bones in their hands and the other team guesses their location. It has ancient origins and is classified as Class I gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, meaning each tribe manages its own rules.
Quick Facts
- Number of bones
- two pairs, each pair consisting of one plain and one striped bone
- Number of counting sticks
- ten sticks, with some variations using additional count sticks
- Tournament name
- Tulalip's Battle of Nations Stick Game Tournament
Facts from the source article.
History
Handgame is older than any written record, and according to oral tradition, humans first learned it from animals. Historical accounts describe the game being played for land and female companionship, and later for horses and cattle. Today, it appears at powwows, tribal celebrations, traditional gatherings, and tournaments run by tribes or Native organizations. A version from the Northwest adds a kickstick, a change spread by Paiute medicine man Wovoka during his Ghost Dance travels.
Ancient digs have uncovered handgame bones and counting sticks. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act classifies handgame as Class I gaming, leaving its regulation to individual tribes. In 2010, the Tulalip Battle of Nations Stick Game Tournament drew 177 teams competing for a $30,000 prize. Singer Judy Trejo released a CD, Stick Game Songs of the Paiute, on Canyon Records.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Handgame (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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