Tlingit/Tsimshian Stick Game

Stick game composed of 53 wooden sticks, one ivory stick, and one hide bag used to store the game pieces. The wooden sticks are decorated with lines and bands painted in red and black, and two of the wooden sticks have burned markings. The ivory stick is decorated with dots and burned lines, and the hide bag is fringed and closed with a rectangular ivory tag. Gambling was widespread in the peoples of Northwest Coast. This stick game was the most popular one until the middle of the 19th century, when another game, the hand game, gradually started to replace it. By the end of the century, only some elders knew the rules of the game. It was only played by men, who bet precious goods such as hides and blankets. The Tlingit name for the game is "ahl-kar," and it was played by two men sitting opposite each other, though spectators could also place bets. The game involved moving the sticks around in piles while they were hidden and wrapped in cedar bark, and the opponent had to guess where a marked stick was. The marked sticks were called "naq" which in Tlingit language means devil fish (genus "Mobula"), because this fish was used as bait for fishing, so its meaning was bait. The rules for forming piles and taking turns to challenge the opponent were quite complex. Names of animals and objects or elements of nature were given to the various decorative combinations of lines and bands, though they did not have any particular value in the game.