Canwacikiyapi - Tops:
Tops predate European contact and were popular with boys. The tops were spun with a whip (icapsinte). A playing field, either circular or square, was set up and the tops were started outside the space and guided into the playing field. Once they entered the playing space they could not be touched again. The top coming closest to the goal within the field would win. Father Buechel cites Chalres Eastman's description of playing with tops in Indian Boyhood: "The spinning of tops was one of the all-absorbing winter sports. We made our tops heart shaped of wood, horn or bone. We whipped them with a long thong of buckskin. The handle was a stick about a foot long and sometimes we whittled the stick to make it spoon-shaped at one end. We played games with these tops -- two to fifty boys at one time. Each whips his top until it hums; then one takes the lead and the rest follow in a sort of obstacle race. The top must spin all the way through. There were bars of snow over which we must pilot our top in the spoon end of our whip; then again we would toss it in the air on to another open spot of ice or smooth snow crust from twenty to fifty paces away. The top that holds out the longest is the winner" (Eastman: 69-70). Father Buechel collected two tops and two whips.
Tops and Whips Canwacikiyapi
Cikala Skatapi - Girl's Miniature Play Set
Cunksila Wahinkpe - Child's Arrows and Bow
Toy bows and arrows were commonly used by boys. They would play at war, hunting, and to increase their accuracy using various kinds of targets. The bow is a smaller version of an adult bow and the arrows are blunted at the tips.
Bow and Arrows Cunksila Wahinkpe
Cunwiyawa - Plum Pit Game:
Full Set - Plum Pit Game Cunwiyawa
Full Set - Plum Pit Game Cunwiyawa (one pit missing)
Gaming Pits Kansu
Gaming Pits Kansu (two pits misisng)
This game consists of a basket, tanpan, decorated plum pits, kansu, and couting sticks, canwiyawa. The early literature refers to the plum pits as dice. Each pit has distinct decorations on either side, one side usually representing an animal or artifact from nature, the other a lined pattern. There can be any number of counting sticks but normally there are 100 to a set. The basket is used to toss the plum pits. The game can be played by any even number of women who form two sides. The value of each pit is determined before the play. To toss the pits one shakes them in the basket with a hand over the opening and then pours them out on the ground. The plain side of the pit counts nothing while the picture side counts the agreed upon value. The points are counted and sticks are taken from the pile to equal the number of points. The game is played untill all the sticks are gone and whichever side has the most sticks wins. Father Buechel collected two full sets of games and another two sets of plum pits. Buechel notes that 30 sticks were used in this game.
Haka Unpi - Elk Game:
This game was played by men before elk hunting to ensure the hunters' success. It consists of two specially shaped wands, hehaka, and a single small hoop cangleska. The hoop was tossed into the air by one of the players and each player tried to catch the hoop on his wand. The opposing player would then attempt to take the hoop from his opponent's wand. He could do this until the player with the wand holding the hoop could lay his wand down on the ground thus ending the play. Points were determined before the game began for the varioius positions one can catch the hoop on the wand.
Ring and Pole Game Haka unpi
Hanpapeconpi - Moccasin Game:
Father Buechel collected an example of the moccasin game but unfortunately it is misisng from the collection or, more likely, misidentified. Father Buechel's information card cited three references that describe the game. In the learning resource Woskate, the author explains that the trickster Iktomi originated the game. The game itself is a guessing game where opponents try to trick the other side with clever hiding and controlled facial expressions. The game is accompanied by lively music.
Moccasin Game Hanpapeconpi
Hanpospu Hoksicala - Doll:
Dolls were a favorite toy of little girls. They would carry them on their backs just like their mothers. The dolls were generally of buckskin and later cloth with beads and other ornamentation affixed to them. Fr. Buechel collected the first doll in the display. The other three dolls were catalogued after Fr. Buechel's death and are believed to have been part of his original collection.
Doll Hanpospu hoksicalai
Doll Hanpospu hoksicalai
Doll Hanpospu hoksicalai
Doll Hanpospu hoksicalai
Hokazunta - Sled:
Young boys and girls used sleds in the winter. Father Buechel collected one example of a sled. Note how some of the bindings and straps on this particular sled are made from reused parfletch.
Sled Hokazunta
Hohuyuhmunpi - Whirling Bone Game:
This toy is made with a bone, stone, or circular piece of wood. The buzzer has a sinew cord or string on either end. Wooden sticks are sometimes affixed to the end of the string to serve as handles. One twists the sinew. When the handles are pulled it causes the center piece to spin rapidly and produces a buzzing sound. Fr. Buechel, S.J. collected five examples of this toy.
Whirling Bone Game Hohuyuhmunpi
Whirling Bone Game Hohuyuhmunpi
Hutanacute - Game of the Winged Bone:
This game is played by men on snow or ice. The gaming device is made of a rib from a cow or buffalo. The front of the rib is pointed and the back is flat. Two feathers mounted on the end of wooden sticks are attached to the back of the rib with wooden pegs and serve to stabilize the bone as it slides along the ice. Feathers from a variety of birds such as eagle and hawk are used for the "wings" of the device. Each rib bone is decorated with various inscribed lines to distinguish it from the others. Any number can play and each player can have from two to four winged bones provided all players have an equal number. A mark is made from which to launch the winged bones. The person whose playing piece goes the furthest away from that mark is deemed the winner. Father Buechel, S.J. collected seven specimens with different kinds of bird feathers and different markings on each bone.
Winged Bone Hutanacute
Winged Bone Hutanacute
Winged Bone Hutanacute
Winged Bone Hutanacute
Winged Bone Hutanacute
Winged Bone Hutanacute
Winged Bone Hutanacute
Icaslohe Iconpi - Bowls:
This is a gambling game played by women. The game is made up of a stone ball, tapa inyan and two wooden cylinder, can mibi. The game is played on ice or sometimes on dry ground. Each of the two required contestents has a stone ball and a wooden cylinder. Two parallel lines make up the playing field. The wooden cylinder is placed passed the lines and the woman on the opposite side must strike the goal with her stone ball to earn a point. The game is played until one woman reaches the agreed upon score. Father Buechel has six of these wooden cylinders in his collection however no stone balls were found during the inventory.
Wooden Goals Can Mibi
Inyan Onyeyapi - Slingshot:
Meeker states that these slings were used to throw rocks far distances but that they were seldom used to throw rocks at targets according to Walker. Father Buechel collected one example of a sling shot and claims that they were used for killing birds. Note the hole in the center of the pad of this artifact to keep the rock in place.
Slingshot Inyan Onyeyapi
Ipahotonpi - Pop Gun:
This toy for young boys is made up of three parts, the body (tancan), ramrod (iyopazan) and wadding (iyopuhli). A wad is packed tightly into one end of the body of the gun, a wooden shaft with a bore hole through the entire length. A second wad is thrust through the other end with the ramrod, compressing the air and making the first wadding fly out with a popping sound. Boys would play battle or hunting with these and also shoot at each other with the wadding. Father Buechel collected one example of this toy.
Pop Gun Ipahotonpi
Napoglecekutepi - Three Fork Gaming Sticks
Painyankapi - Great Hoop Game:
This game was played by two men or two teams of equal number. This game was immensely popular and involved wagering and fierce competition among expert players. The hoop was marked in four quadrants: the stump, the black, the stripes and the fork. Two wands flattened on the end were attached in parallel with a buckskin thong. Ritual prayer was involved in the game. The winner of the game was presumed to have more spiritual power than his opponents. A referee was chosen for the game by the players and the players determined the point value of each mark on the hoop. One player rolls the hoop in a prescribed manner and the other must pin it with his wands. Points are calculated by how the wands lay with respect to the four marks. The first player to accumlate the agreed upon number of points is the winner. This game has mystical origins. A story is told about a yourg man who goes to fast when the people cannot find buffalo. A buffalo gives him a pipe and the young man calls four men of good reputation and teaches them the wand and hoop game. He points out that when the hoop is rolled there are buffalo tracks where it rolled and that there would be an abundance of buffalo. The game was played whenever there was a shortage of buffalo. After the last of the four men died the game was used for gambling. Father Buechel collected one complete gaming set and a second pair of gaming wands.
Hoop Painyankapi
Wand Painyankapi
Hoop Painyankapi
Wand Painyankapi
Paslohanpi - Throwing Sticks
This is a game for boys in which the spear is thrown by hand. Buechel mentions that the lower part of the spear may also be balanced on a piece of wood, or stone or on the foot and then it is launched forward by the smaller end.
Throwing Stick Paslohanpi
Paslohanpi - Javelins
This game is played by women on ice or perhaps snow according to Fr. Buehcel. Two groups of four women each played this game at a time. The gaming device is a single wooden shaft with the tip of a horn (buffalo-- called hohugle in Lakota) attached to one end. Unlike the gaming piece for pteheste, this device lacks feathers at the opposite end of the shaft. The one who throws her javelin the furthest along the ice is the winner (ohiya). Walker refers to this particular game as he paslohanpi -- horn tipped javelin. Buechel says that two different games share the same name, one for boys and one for women.
Horn Tipped Javelin Paslohanpi
Peji Yuskila Kutpei - Shooting a Grass Ball
This is a skill game for older boys. A target is made of grass and a spot is put on it to indicate the heart. The target is thrown into the air and the boys shoot at it. Whoever hit the target closest to the heart is the next to throw the target. The heart mark on the target in the Buechel collection is not visible.
Bow, Arrow and Grass Target Peji Yuskila Kutpei
Pteheste - Young Cow
This game is played by men on ice or perhaps snow. According to Fr. Buechel four men played this game at a time. The gaming device is a single wooden shaft with the tip of a horn (cow or buffalo) attached to one end and feathers attached to the shaft at the opposite end so that it looks live a large arrow. Players stand at a mark. Ahead of them are two parallel lines about twenty to thirty feet apart. The piece must go between the space between the lines and as far away from the lines as possible. The player whose piece passes between the lines and travels furthest from the lines is declared the winner. Fr. Buechel also referred to this game as "snow snakes" on one of his note cards.
Horn Tipped Stick Pteheste
Horn Tipped Stick Pteheste
Horn Tipped Stick Pteheste
Paslohanpi - Javelins
This game is played by women on ice or perhaps snow according to Fr. Buehcel. Two groups of four women each played this game at a time. The gaming device is a single wooden shaft with the tip of a horn (buffalo-- called hohugle in Lakota) attached to one end. Unlike the gaming piece for pteheste, this device lacks feathers at the opposite end of the shaft. The one who throws her javelin the furthest along the ice is the winner (ohiya). Walker refers to this particular game as he paslohanpi -- horn tipped javelin.
Horn Tipped Javelin Paslohanpi
Peji Yuskita Kutepi - Grass Knot Target
Tahuka Cangleska - Webbed Hoop Game:
This game was played by men and older boys. There are two pieces to the game, the webbed hoop, tahuka cangleska, and a speark; wahukeza. Any even number of men could play with a minimum of four hoops and as many spears as they like. The one side throws the hoops towards the other who must spear the hoops as they come towards them. A spear through the center (cante - heart) earns the maximum number of points. The game is played for an agreed upon number of innings and each side takes its turn to throw and to spear. At the end of the agreed upon innings the team with the largest number of points wins.
Father Buechel collected four hoops but it is unclear if the spears still exist in the collection.
Hoop cangleska
Hoop cangleska
Hoop cangleska
Hoop cangleska
Tapa - Ball
Tapa Nakapapi - Tethered Ball
Tasiha unpi - Catching Deer Bones with a Needle:
This game was played casually by adults and children both male and female but only women played in formal competition and for stakes. The pin is held in one hand and the bones in the other. The player tosses the bones with one hand and then attepts to catch them with the pin in the other hand. If all the bones are caught on the pin the player wins. Points are given for the number of bones and/or the number of beaded hoops at the end of the bones caught on the pin.
Catching Deer Bones with a Needle Tasiha unpi
Catching Deer Bones with a Needle Tasiha unpi
Catching Deer Bones with a Needle Tasiha unpi
Tate Kihwogyapi - Wind Catcher
Tipi Cikala - Toy Tipi:
Little girls played with model tipis from minature size to ones large enough to crawl into. Fr. Buechel has two model tipis in his collection, although he classified neither as a toy. He used both of them in his "H" category, household, to exemplify camp dwellings before the reservation period. We have placed these objects here to show examples of tipis that might have been played with by children.
Toy Tipi
Toy Tipi
Unkcela Pte - Cactus Buffalo:
This was a skill game for boys. One boy would hold the target, a cactus leaf attached to the end of a long stick, well over his head. Other boys would shoot at the target. When one of the boys hit the target he would then chase after and try to catch the boy who held the target. Thus the target and the boy played the role of a buffalo. Buechel also notes that if the boy hit the target he could then strike the other players with the wand. He was told this by Bullring.
Cactus Buffalo Calf - Bow Unkcela Pte
Cactus Buffalo Calf - Target Unkcela Pte