First to make the misstep is "it" for the time or for next game.
Hat-Ball
When I was among the Chepewyan Indians of Great Slave Lake, in 1907, I made myself popular with the young men, as well as boys, by teaching them the old game of hat-ball.
The players (about a dozen) put their hats in a row near a house, fence, or log (hollows up). A dead line is drawn ten feet from the hats; all must stand outside of that. The one who is "it" begins by throwing a soft ball into one of the hats. If he misses the hat, a chip is put into his own, and he tries over. As soon as he drops the ball into a hat, the owner runs {304} to get the ball; all the rest run away. The owner must not follow beyond the dead line, but must throw the ball at some one. If he hits him, a chip goes into that person's hat; if not, a chip goes into his own.
As soon as some one has five chips, he wins the booby prize: that is, he must hold his hand out steady against the wall, and each player has five shots at it with the ball, as he stands on the dead line.
Duck-on-a-Rock
This is a good old grandfather game.
Each player has a large, smooth, roundish stone, about five or six inches through. This is his duck. He keeps it permanently.
Toe rock is any low bowlder, block, stump, bump, or hillock on level ground. A dead line is drawn through the rock, and another parallel, fifteen feet away, for a firing line.
The fellow who is "it," or "keeper," perches his duck on the rock. The others stand at the firing line and throw their ducks at his. They must not pick them up or touch them with their hands when they are beyond the dead line. If one does, then the keeper can tag him (unless he reaches the firing line), and send him to do duty as keeper at the rock.