Native American hand games
Native American hand games are traditional activities that serve both entertainment and skill development, emphasizing dexterity and coordination. These games are inclusive, engaging individuals of all ages and genders, and often involve elements of chance and gambling. Children are encouraged to participate from a young age, helping them hone their hand-eye coordination. Common hand games include jackstraws, stick games, basket dice, and the popular Slahal, among others. Additionally, some hand games hold spiritual significance, with shamans utilizing sleight of hand techniques during healing rituals to demonstrate their powers. Elders also incorporate these games into storytelling, reflecting cultural myths and creation stories. Overall, hand games not only provide amusement but also serve as a means of cultural expression and community bonding.
Subject Terms
Native American hand games
Tribes affected: Pantribal
Significance: Hand games were an important source of entertainment; they were used by shamans to dramatize their magic and by storytellers to illustrate important events
Native Americans played a wide variety of hand games, primarily for entertainment and for developing and displaying skill and dexterity. Hand games were frequently the basis of different games of chance and even gambling, and both genders and all ages participated. Native American children were encouraged in hand games at an early age, to help them develop hand-eye coordination. The more common hand games were jackstraws, stick games, basket dice, tops, ball juggling, four stick, tip cat, hidden ball/object, pebble games, ring and pin, shell game, whirling game with hemp, dice games, and cat’s cradle.
Shamans used special hand games that involved legerdemain (sleight of hand), to demonstrate the user’s religious power during curing rituals or prophesying. Skilled shamans could make game objects “speak” using ventriloquism, implying that the game had its own power or spirit. These special hand game objects were “fed” and sung to by their owners. Elders and skilled storytellers employed certain hand games to illustrate or dramatize events in creation stories or mythological accounts. Gifted hand game players frequently acquired status, and during winter confinement they would be called upon for entertainment.