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“Within the Sky House were food and rich robes”
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The Gamble Stick Game
A great fire chased away the black shadows of night as the Red Men began the gamble stick chant. First low, then louder and faster, while they beat on drums made of logs.
There were six Indian braves on each side. On the ground in front of each were ten sticks, small and straight, made of cedar. Three long sticks lay beside them. These were to show how many times each side won. There were two gamble sticks the length of a man’s finger. The bark had been peeled from one leaving it smooth and round, while the other had a ring of bark around the middle.
Then Wook-ya-koots took the two gamble sticks, one in each hand, and while swinging them back and forth in front of him, changed them from one hand to the other so quickly that no eye could follow. But at last Left-Handed made a motion toward the hand he thought held the ring stick. The wild chanting stopped. Wook-ya-koots opened wide his hands and showed the sticks. Left-Handed had lost and threw one of the short sticks of cedar across to the other side. Wook-ya-koots took it and stuck it in the ground.