wagering also became an important element, piquing interest
in the sport.
Indigenous inhabitants of the southwestern United States
and northern Mexico oft en participated in kick-ball races,
long-distance races that involved kicking a ball for more than
25 miles at a stretch. Both men and women participated in
these races, although women used a stick to toss a hoop ahead
of them as they ran. Children began training for the kick-ball
race when they were young, as it was seen as a religious ritual
as well as a sporting event. Ceremonies were held the night
before and the morning of the race, and there was a strong be-
lief in supernatural intervention in these races. Many groups
even believed that they were able to run faster while kicking
the ball than without, as if a supernatural force were pulling
each member of the team forward.
In Peru foot races were oft en included in the initiation of
a boy reaching puberty. With other rituals, these foot races
established each boy as a member of the adult community
by showing his mental and physical fortitude. Foot races in
North America were also run as part of growing up. Nations
living in the Great Plains and along the Mississippi oft en
viewed these races as preparation for future warfare.
For North American Indians in snowy climates, such as
the ancestors of the Iroquois and Seneca nations (who can be
traced to these regions to 4000 b.c.e.), the snow-snake game
used the weather to its advantage. Th e object of the game was
to toss an object called a snake (most commonly a pole) the far-
thest on ice or in snow. Th e lanes intended for the snow-snake
were long and free from obstruction, but there were no specifi c
rules about the paths or the snake itself. Snow-snake was gen-
era l ly an indiv idua l spor t, a lt hough it cou ld be played in teams,
with each member tossing a snake and each team accumulat-
ing points for the longest throws. Th e game did not attract the
attention of either the ball game or the races, nor did it have a
supernatural or spiritual component. Th is game, then, seems
to have been played simply for diversion and leisure activity.
Sports and games, then, did serve a purpose outside of
a ritual one, particularly games of chance that originated in
prehistoric times. In fact, the ancient dice playing of North
American Indians can be traced back nearly 2,000 years us-
ing archaeological remnants of dice found in the southwest-
ern United States. Th is prehistoric game did not use skill orcalculation. Rather, each player relied on chance to win the
game. As was the tradition with such games of chance, Indi-
ans oft en placed wagers on who would win. Some players were
certainly luckier than others, and it was believed that those
players had a special relationship with the gods or themselves
had supernatural powers.
Th e dice that have been uncovered in Arizona, Utah, and
Colorado are referred to as two-sided dice and are very unlike
the six-sided dice of modern times. Th ese dice resembled sticks
and were decorated on each side, using light colors on one and
dark colors on the other. As with most games of chance, the
goal was to guess a number or a series of numbers involving the
dice. Th e dice game has been found in more than 100 distinct
groups in North America and is generally considered universal
to nations in North America. As with the kick-ball race and
the ball game, the rules and means of playing the game varied
from nation to nation. Both men and women played the game
in all nations, but they generally did so separately. Score was
kept either with another set of sticks or using an abacus.
Ancient games were also played among children, and one
of the best known is the skin or blanket tossing game of the
Eskimo. In this game a large animal hide was spread, and a
child climbed on it. When the hide was pulled taut, the child
was thrown into the air. Th e object of this game was for each
boy to land on his feet. Oft entimes the children were doing so
aft er having been thrown more than 20 feet in the air.
Children all over the Americas also played with dolls,
which were most frequently made using the most convenient
materials. Th ose living in the region now occupied by the
Chippewa used cattails in making their dolls, and clay fi gures
were used in other parts of the Americas. Children oft en made
their own dolls out of cornhusks where corn was most preva-
lent. Children played with dolls in much the same way as they
do today, and these dolls were used by boys and girls alike.See also adornment; agriculture; architecture; art;
children; crafts; crime and punishment; drama and
theater; festivals; gender structures and roles; in-
ventions; literature; military; music and musical
instruments; numbers and counting; religion and
cosmology; social organization; trade and exchange;
weaponry and armor.NO. 9
Fit speech may I fi nd for my journey in the Muses’
car; and let me therewith have daring and powers of
ample scope. To back the prowess of a friend I came,
when Lampromachos won his Isthmian crown, whenon the same day both he and his brother overcame.
And afterwards at the gates of Corinth two triumphs
again befell Epharmostos and more in the valleys of
Nemea. At Argos he triumphed over men, as over boys
at Athens. And I might tell how at Marathon he stolePindar, Olympian Odes (ca. 470 b.c.e.)
Greece1058 sports and recreation: primary source documents0895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i1058 1058 10/10/07 2:30:55 PM