Page:The Pima Indians.pdf/184

] leaf with an arrow, and when four are playing the two partners share equally the winnings or losses. Arrows, bows, and such similar property as these ragged urchins possess are wagered. A bow is considered worth from 10 to 20 arrows, according to quality.

Either two or four may play. The game consists in shooting an arrow so that it will lie on the ground at a distance of about 100 feet and then shooting two more arrows with the intention of casting them across the first.

The children sometimes amuse themselves by tossing into the air corncobs in which from one to three feathers have been stuck. They do not shoot arrows at them.

There are three games in addition to the athletic game of âldû which were played exclusively by the women.

Two women play this game. Five stones that have been carefully selected from rounded pebbles 3 to 4 cm. in diameter (fig. 94) are used. The first player calls one of these "my stone" and tosses it into the air, keeping her eyes fixed upon it while she snatches up one of the other four stones before the first falls. After all are picked up in this way she begins again and picks up two at a time, then three and one, then all at once. If she proceeds thus far without mistake she wins the game. The next game is more difficult. The named stone is tossed up as before, but those remaining are shoved under an arch formed by the thumb and middle finger with the first finger crossed over the middle one. The stones are pushed under the arch in the same order as in the first game. In the one-plus-three combination the player selects one stone which she calls her opponent's and says she will not pick that one up first.

This stave game is played with eight sticks in two sets of four each, which are colored black on the rounded side in one set and on the flat side in the other, the opposite side being stained red (fig. 95). Two play, each using her own set of sticks, but exchanging them