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SWANTON] CHOCTAW SOCIAL AND CEEEMONIAl, LIFE 151
The Indians bet everything they possess upon the game, even to their clothes
and boots. The bets are made through stalseholclers—four or five Indians
who constantly ride about on horseback. Whatever is bet is put with what is
bet against it. If handkerchiefs, they are knotted together and thrown over
the stakeholder's shoulder ; if money, the sums are put together in his pocket-
book. His memory is remarkable, and he never fails to turn over the stakes
correctly. Much skill is shown during the game. In a scrimmage the ball is
tossed backward tli rough the bent legs of the players, and when the player
secures it he utters a signal cry—hogle a! [or hokli a]. This is repeated by
those along the line, and each grabs the opponent nearest to him and holds
him. While they are wrestling the player with the ball tries to run with it,
so that he can throw it and make a goal.
The ball, it should be observed, is about the size of a golf ball, made of rags
and covered with white buckskin. Several are provided, as they are frequently
lost in the tall grass. The players on the side with the wind sometimes sub-
stitute a ball with a long tail and a loose cover that comes off during the play.
The tail then impedes their opponents in throwing it against the wind. The
women are extremely active in aiding their side. They are not permitted to
touch the ball sticks, but they are constantly running about and giving hot
coffee to the men. In one hand they carry a cup of coffee and in the other a
quirt with which they whip the players when they think they are not playing
hard enough. At times a player will get a woman to give him a pin, with
which he will scarify his leg, making from three to five scratches from near
the ankle to the middle of the calf, until the blood comes. This, they say,
prevents cramps.
When the players return to the game after lunch hour they place their ball
sticks in rows opposite each other in the middle of the field, where they are
counted by the umpire or the leaders on each side. This is done to see that
no more are playing than started in the game. The spectators cry out and
encourage the sides. When a goal is made there is a shout. The most exciting
point in a close game is when the last goal is neared. Then the play becomes
very fast and the rules are not strictly observed. A goal may be made in a
few moments or the contest may last for an hour. In wrestling, the players
seize each other by the belts, dropping the ball sticks. With the exception of
the prohibited butting almost everything is permitted. At the present game
five men were crippled, of whom two died. The injuries inflicted upon a man
during a game are frequently avenged by his relatives. The result of the game
described was a victory for Tobucksey county. The conjurer on the Sugarloaf
side was said to have sent his men to the creek to bathe in the morning, which
weakened them. They were penalized five goals for butting at the end, and so
lost the game. There was no celebration afterwards. All were tired out and
went home quietly to their mud-chinked log cabins at the close of the day.*^
The hand ball game mentioned by Romans evidently survived into
modern times among the Louisiana Choctaw. Under the headmg
" Tole," Bushnell has the following regarding it
The players were divided into two equal groups, or sides, which may be
designated A and B. Two stakes, each about 10 feet in height and only a
few inches in diameter, served as goals ; these were about 200 feet apart. Onethird
of the A players were on the B side of the field and one-third of the B
'Twenty-fourth Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., Washington, 1907, pp. 602-604.