Page 115 - TheHopiIndians

MESA FOLK OF HOPILAND 107

acter. Of these may be mentioned the numerous races,
including the kicking race in which stones are carried
on top of one foot, and the sacred game of ball. One
might include in the list the bow-women of the Mam-
zrauti ceremony and basket throwers of the Lalakonti
ceremony, since it can be seen that games are closely
connected with primitive religious beliefs and may
all have originated as a form of divination, or some
other early attempts of man either to influence the
beings or to spy into the future. It may be that some
games are remnants of long-forgotten ceremonies, once
of great import to early worshippers.
Of sedentary games there are a number. One like
"fox and geese," called totolospi, is the patoli of
the Mexicans, which is said to be in turn the pachise
of the Hindus, and the rectangular plan of this game
may sometimes be found on the rocks near the villages.
There is "cup and ball," a guessing game in which
four cups cut from wood and a stone about the size
of a marble form the paraphernalia; and there is a
game in which reed dice with markings are thrown.
A set of these dice was found in an ancient ruin near
Winslow, Arizona, and they are represented on an
ancient bowl from Sikyatki, a ruin near Walpi.
With all these games the Hopi are not gamblers
and appear to have the same aversion to it as they
have to fire-water, differing in this respect from the
Navaho, Zuiii, and many other tribes of Indians. Most
of their games, like those of the ancient Greeks, are