the other side of the circle, puts it before the Singers and gives
the balls as directed. Sometimes there are disputes as to these transfers
and as to the points lost; three must be lost to secure a transfer. It then
becomes the duty of the Judges to decide.

With every transfer of the drum the song changes. The balls and the right
to sing go together, but the song belonging to one side must not be sung by
the other side. The songs are not interchangeable.

This game is provocative of fun and merriment as well as dexterity of hand
and quickness of vision. It also presents a very pretty spectacle. It is
greatly enjoyed by Indian men, women and children. It has also found favor
with merrymakers of our own race.

Ball Games

INTRODUCTION

Indian ball games have one feature not found in the ball games as played by
us; that is, with the Indian the ball is never pitched and tossed by hand
during the play. At the opening of an Indian game the ball must be tossed
by hand, but after that the ball is struck by a racket, stick or club and
in that way sent from player to player and on to the goal. An exception to
this general rule is found in an Omaha ball game given in the following
pages.

The opening ceremony requires the ball to be handled and moved in a
peculiar and ceremonial manner by the hand of the Umpire before he tosses
it up for the beginning of the actual play.

The balls used by the Indians are of different materials--buckskin stuffed
with hair; formed from roots, such as the wild-grape vine; wood; bladder
netted with sinew; and in a few instances, of bone or stone.

Three ball games are here given.

I

BALL AND RACKET

INTRODUCTORY NOTE.--The game in which the ball is struck with a racket is
almost exclusively played by men, but there are tribes where it is played
by women, and one tribe, cited by Dr. Culin, where it is played by men and
women together. The form of ball game where the racket is used was less
widely distributed over the country than some others. It was most
frequently found among tribes living near the Atlantic Coast and in the
region of the Great Lakes. It had a limited range on the Pacific. There are
two forms of the Racket Ball Game, one where a single racket is used and
the other where two rackets are employed to catch the ball. The latter form
is peculiar to the tribes formerly living in the Southern States. The game
here given is presented as it is played among the Chippewa