My Plays and Playmates
I:Games and Sports THE Indian boy was a prince of the wilderness.He had but very little work to do during the period of his boyhood.His principal occupation was the practice of a few simple arts in warfare and the chase.Aside from this,he was master of his time.
Whatever was required of us boys was quickly performed:then the field was clear for our games and plays.There was always keen competition among us.We felt very much as our fathers did in hunting and war--each one strove to excel all the others.
It is true that our savage life was a precarious one,and full of dreadful catastrophes;however,this never prevented us from enjoying our sports to the fullest extent.As we left our teepees in the morning,we were never sure that our scalps would not dangle from a pole in the afternoon!
It was an uncertain life,to be sure.Yet we ob-served that the fawns skipped and played happily while the gray wolves might be peeping forth from behind the hills,ready to tear them limb from limb.
Our sports were molded by the life and customs of our people;indeed,we practiced only what we expected to do when grown.Our games were feats with the bow and arrow,foot and pony races,wrestling,swimming and imitation of the customs and habits of our fathers.We had sham fights with mud balls and willow wands;we played lacrosse,made war upon bees,shot winter arrows (which were used only in that season),and coasted upon the ribs of animals and buffalo robes.
No sooner did the boys get together than,as a usual thing,they divided into squads and chose sides;then a leading arrow was shot at random into the air.Before it fell to the ground a volley from the bows of the participants followed.Each player was quick to note the direction and speed of the leading arrow and he tried to send his own at the same speed and at an equal height,so that when it fell it would be closer to the first than any of the others.
It was considered out of place to shoot by first sighting the object aimed at.This was usually impracticable in actual life,because the object was almost always in motion,while the hunter himself was often upon the back of a pony at full gallop.
Therefore,it was the off-hand shot that the Indian boy sought to master.There was another game with arrows that was characterized by gambling,and was generally confined to the men.
The races were an every-day occurrence.At noon the boys were usually gathered by some pleasant sheet of water and as soon as the ponies were watered,they were allowed to graze for an hour or two,while the boys stripped for their noonday sports.A boy might say to some other whom he considered his equal:
"I can't run;but I will challenge you to fifty paces."A former hero,when beaten,would often explain his defeat by saying:"I drank too much water."Boys of all ages were paired for a "spin,"and the little red men cheered on their favorites with spirit.
As soon as this was ended,the pony races fol-lowed.All the speedy ponies were picked out and riders chosen.If a boy declined to ride,there would be shouts of derision.
Last of all came the swimming.A little urchin would hang to his pony's long tail,while the lat-ter,with only his head above water,glided spor-tively along.Finally the animals were driven in-to a fine field of grass and we turned our attention to other games.
Lacrosse was an older game and was confined en-tirely to the Sisseton and Santee Sioux.Shinny,such as is enjoyed by white boys on the ice,is still played on the open prairie by the western Sioux.The "moccasin game,"although sometimes played by the boys,was intended mainly for adults.
The "mud-and-willow"fight was rather a severe and dangerous sport.A lump of soft clay was stuck on the end of a limber and springy wil-low wand and thrown as boys throw apples from sticks,with considerable force.When there were fifty or a hundred players on each side,the battle became warm;but anything to arouse the bravery of Indian boys seemed to them a good and whole-some diversion.
Wrestling was largely indulged in by us all.It may seem odd,,but wrestling was done by a great many boys at once--from ten to any number on a side.It was really a battle,in which each one chose his opponent.The rule was that if a boy sat down,he was let alone,but as long as he re-mained standing within the field,he was open to an attack.No one struck with the hand,but all manner of tripping with legs and feet and butting with the knees was allowed.Altogether it was an exhausting pastime--fully equal to the American game of football and only the young athlete could really enjoy it.
One of our most curious sports was a war upon the nests of wild bees.We imagined ourselves about to make an attack upon the Ojibways or some tribal foe.We all painted and stole cau-tiously upon the nest;then,with a rush and war-whoop,sprang upon the object of our attack and endeavored to destroy it.But it seemed that the bees were always on the alert and never entirely surprised,for they always raised quite as many scalps as did their bold assailants!After the on-slaught upon the nest was ended,we usually fol-lowed it by a pretended scalp dance.
On the occasion of my first experience in this mode of warfare,there were two other little boys who were also novices.One of them particularly was really too young to indulge in an exploit of that kind.As it was the custom of our people,when they killed or wounded an enemy on the bat-tle field,to announce the act in a loud voice,we did the same.My friend,Little Wound (as I will call him,for I do not remember his name),being quite small,was unable to reach the nest until it had been well trampled upon and broken and the insects had made a counter charge with such vigor as to repulse and scatter our numbers in every di-rection.However,he evidently did not want to retreat without any honors;so he bravely jumped upon the nest and yelled:
