 The
Hiding the Disks Game
This game, known under a variety of names, is a favorite among
the Indian tribes living on the North Pacific Coast. The disks,
always of an uneven number, are made of wood and ornamented with
designs composed of segments of circles with groupings of dots.
Some of the markings are regarded as cabalistic, and there are
men who claim to have a knowledge of spells that will bring luck
to the disks they ornament and treat; such disks are considered
valuable and often command a high price. All of the disks in
a set that is used in this game are ornamented alike except one;
this must be different from the others. It may be decorated with
red, for the sun, or with a dark color almost black, for the
night. This disk is frequently called the "chief," and the aim
of the game is to guess in which pile of disks the "chief" is
hidden.
Properties.—A mat on which the game is played;
a small mat on which the counting or tally-sticks are put; a
board that is to serve as a drum; four drum-sticks; nine wooden
disks about two and a half inches in diameter. The designs on
the nine disks, the twenty tally-sticks and the four drum-sticks
should be in color or burned into the wood. Eight of the disks
should be decorated alike; the ninth must be different and have
either red or brown as the predominating color; this disk is
the "chief." A bundle of excelsior is to be the substitute for
the fiber of cedar bark which is used by the Indians of the Northwest
Coast when playing this game; if excelsior is not available,
dry leaves or some other dry material might be substituted, within
which, or under which, the disks could be hidden. All the articles
used in this game except the mats should be made in camp.
Directions.—An uneven number of players is required
for this game. The mat is laid east and west; at a little distance
back to the northwest the small mat is placed and on it are put
the twenty tally-sticks. In a line with the small mats to the
northeast is laid the board around which the four singers and
drummers sit. The bundle of excelsior, or whatever material is
used in its place, together with the nine disks, is put at the
western end of the mat; before these is the place for the player
who is to hide the disks. On the northern and southern side of
the mat sit the players who are to guess where the "chief" is
hidden, three or four on a side. The messenger stands at the
eastern end of the mat facing the player who is to hide the disks.
Lots should be drawn to determine who of the six or eight players
are to sit on the northern side and who on the southern side.
The player who is to do the hiding of the disks can be either
selected or drawn by lot. Whoever takes this part in the game
should be capable of considerable dramatic action. Among the
Indians the person who does the hiding of the disks personifies
one who practices magic; he makes passes over the disks and the
cedar fiber under which the disks are hidden, makes signs and
movements, and does what he can to throw a spell of confusion
over those who are to guess where the "chief" is hidden.
When the players about the mat, the singers about the board
drum and the messenger standing at the eastern end of the mat
are all in readiness, the singers begin the following song, keeping
time by beating with their drum-sticks on the board drum; the
players about the mat join in the singing.
Native American Songs - Hiding the Disks
The player at the western end of the mat opens the bundle of
excelsior or other material and spreads it on the mat and then
puts all the nine disks under the material, making many movements
as he does so, all of which must be in rhythm with the song,
rolling the disks about under the material and finally dividing
them into two parts, well covered up by the material. He continues
to make passes with his hands as though invoking mysterious forces
and to shuffle around the two piles of material in which the
disks are hidden. Suddenly a player points to one of the piles;
the player at the end ceases to shuffle and sends the disks concealed
in the pile rolling down the mat to the messenger standing at
the other end, who looks to see if the "chief" is among the disks
rolled toward him. If he finds it, all of the players on the
side of the guesser give the victory shout and the messenger
goes to the small mat, brings one of the tally-sticks and stands
it before the successful guesser. Then the messenger rolls the
disks back to the other end of the mat where the person sits
who hides the disks. That player begins again his passes and
movements as he mixes together the nine disks and hides them
under the material; then he divides the disks and the material
under which they are hidden into two piles, shuffles them about
until a player points to a pile, when he at once stops shuffling
and sends the disks under the pile pointed at rolling down the
mat to the messenger. If the "chief" is not found among the disks,
the side to which the unsuccessful guesser belongs loses a point,
and the messenger takes from the small mat a tally-stick and
stands it at the end of the row of players on the opposite side.
The disks are then sent spinning over the mat to the player who
hides them. He mixes up the disks, hides them, shuffles the piles
until another guess is made. If that guess should be by a player
on the side that had just lost a point, and the guess prove to
be successful—that is, the pile pointed at contain the "chief"—then
the messenger takes the tally-stick that had been put at the
end of the row of the opposite side and stands it in front of
the successful guesser. He could not take back a tally-stick
that had been won by a guess unless all the tally-sticks had
been taken from the small mat. One side or the other must win
twenty points to be victor in the game. In the process of winning
the game the tally-sticks may therefore be taken back and forth
before one side wins the entire twenty.
The victory shout is given only when a successful guess is made.
The singing stops at a victory shout and is resumed as soon as
the disks are rolled back to the player who hides the disks.
He must be careful to keep all his dramatic actions and movements
of hands, arms, body and head in rhythmic accord with the song.
The steps and movements of the messenger must also be in time
with the song.
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