[309] Lewis, p. 150; Lewis and Clark, III, pp. 125 and 137; IV, p. 324; Hale. p. 213; Whitman, pp. 91 and 95 (1891).
Games, Amusements and Narcotics.
Games. Dice made of beaver teeth or woodchuck teeth, such as were found in the Thompson River region,[310] but which were not found in the shell heaps of the Lower Fraser, or in fact, in any of those of the coast of Washington or British Columbia, were absent among our finds in this region although a beaver tooth was seen in the cremation rectangle No. 21 (16) near the mouth of the Naches River.
A number of small tubes, made of bone which may have been used in gambling, were found here. Four of them, about 42 mm. long and 9 mm. in diameter, with the ends ground squarely across, but with the edges somewhat rounded possibly by wear, were found in the east northeastern part of the bottom of grave No. 10 (5) in a rock-slide on the north side of the Naches River about half a mile above its mouth. [Fig. 97] shows one of two other bone tubes of similar size and shape, the ends ground somewhat more perfectly flat, which were found in grave No. 1, in the rock-slide on the north side of the Yakima Ridge to the southeast of the Yakima River. Another bone tube from this same grave ([Fig. 98]) is 43 mm. long and 12 mm. in diameter, and the ends are ground off flat. This bears nine about equi-distant incised lines, which run around it in such a way that the lower end of each line is on the opposite side of the bone from its upper end. It is charred. Such bone tubes were found at Lytton,[311] in pouches in the graves, in other parts of the Thompson River region[312] to the north and in the shell heaps of the Lower Fraser River[313] to the west. In the Nez Perce region dice and gaming pieces were commonly made of bone.[314] Cylindrical sections of the long bone of the deer were used in gambling,[315] and whistles were made of the long bones of the sand hill crane.[316]
Fig. 97 (202-8150). Bone Tube. From grave No. 1, in a rock-slide of the Yakima Ridge. ½ nat. size.
Fig. 98 (202-8151). Bone Tube, bearing Incised Lines, Charred. From grave No. 1 in a rock-slide of the Yakima Ridge. ½ nat. size.
Fig. 99 (202-8166). Perforated Cylinder made of Steatite. From near centre of grave No. 10 (5) in a rock-slide near the mouth of Naches River. ½ nat. size.
Fig. 100. Tubular Pipe made of Steatite. From Yakima Indians. ½ nat. size. (Drawn from photograph 44506, 6-7. Original Catalogue No. 215 in the collection of Mr. McCandless.)
The perforated cylinder shown in [Fig. 99], made of serpentine is 44 mm. long and 8 mm. in diameter, rounded at the edges and was found in about the centre of grave No. 10 (5). There are five small pits about equi-distant from each other around this cylinder near the top, and four near the bottom. There are two transverse incised lines just below the five pits, and there is an incision about 12 mm. above the bottom of the specimen, below which the diameter is perhaps half a mm. greater than at the top. Near the middle of the object it is pierced by a hole which tapers from each end. While this object also may have been used in gambling, it seems possible that it may be an amulet.
Narcotics. Pipes of seven distinct types were found in this region; a tube, a simple bowl, a disk with both bowl and stem made in the periphery, an elbow form, a modern inlaid pipe similar to the typical form of the catlinite pipe of the Plains, a tomahawk-pipe in stone, and a pipe carved in the art of the North Pacific coast.