Indian Games.

Author/s: Joyce Styron Madsen
Issue: Oct-Nov, 1999
From Boy's Quest

Have you ever wondered what everyday life was like for Indian boys long ago? What kinds of games did they play? Did they have favorite sports? Actually, some of their activities were not so different from those that you and your friends enjoy today.

One popular game for young boys was "ring and pin." This game was not only fun to play, but it helped to develop the boys' hand-eye coordination too. The Indians used a stick tied to a ring with a length of leather cord. The idea was to hold the stick, toss the ring, and then catch it with the stick through the middle of the ring. The ring was often made from a small slice of dried gourd. As the boys' skills developed, they would switch to smaller and smaller rings. The more experienced boys used rings cut from an acorn cap when they wanted a real challenge!

The children of many Indian tribes also played games that involved tossing pieces of wood or small stones up into the air. The wood or stones were marked with different colors or numbers, each counting for a certain number of points. The points each player would earn depended on how the wood or stones landed when tossed, similar to a game of dice.

If you'd like to try this type of game yourself, it's easy to 'make wooden sticks similar to those that the Indians used. Here's what you'll need:

• 5 flat sticks (like popsicle sticks or tongue depressors)
• a pencil
• different colored crayons or marking pens