Fig. 8a (50-6153c), b (50-6153e), c (6153 f).
Wooden Tops. Length of a, 7 cm.
Top was a favorite game for boys. The wooden top (Fig. 8) is usually made of birch in the round and varies in length from 11 to 16 cm., in diameter from 8 to 12 cm. The bark is removed entire or in sections and the heads marked with nails or paint, partly for ornamentation and partly for identification. The wood must be well seasoned so as not to be heavy. The whips have four buckskin lashes about 35 cm. in length and handles about 75 cm. long. This game is played in soft snow, the object being to determine who can drive his top over the greatest distance without interrupting the spinning. The usual stakes are buckskin whip strings and tops.
Fig. 9 (50-6155g).
A Stone Top.
Length, 8 cm.
Another top game is played upon smooth ice. The tops are water-worn egg-shaped pebbles (Fig. 9) about 15 cm. in transverse diameter. The whips are similar to the preceding except that bark strings are used as shown in Fig. 10. This is a matter of economy since it is the belief that the rocks and the ice wear out buckskin strings very quickly and while the bark strings are also short lived they are easily replaced. In the game, the rocks are set spinning by whipping and when at high speed are driven together, the one that stops spinning first loses. In this game, the players are in pairs.
Fig. 10 (50-6154a).
Top Whip with Lashes
of Bark. Length, 71 cm.
Sometimes these rock tops are used on hard snow. A shallow trench is dug which the tops must cross while spinning. A skillful player will whip his top in such a way that it will jump the trench. However, should it fail it may be whipped out or thrown out by the hand; if it ceases to spin, the player loses. The name for top games is approximately, “knocking it.”
Another boy’s game is with balls of mud stuck on the ends of willow rods about two meters long. A swing of the rod will drive off such a ball with great force. If such play becomes a contest, the aim is to see who can throw the greatest distance.
There are a number of arrow games. The collections contain two sets. One bow (Fig. 11b) has a peculiar decoration on the back, produced by cutting away portions of the bark. The other bow (Fig. 11a) is of similar form but plain. The arrows are in sets of six, of plain feathered shafts, about 75 cm. long and slightly sharpened. One arrow with the carved bow has a peculiar head (Fig. 11b). There are also two grass targets as in Fig. 11a.