Notes

FROM OLD LATE 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY EXHIBIT LABEL WITH CARD: "GAMBLING STICKS.--MADE OF WOOD; TWENTY NINE IN NUMBER, WITH BUCKSKIN BAG. MOST OF THE STICKS HAVE A DISTINCTIVE MARK. LENGTH, 5 INCHES; WIDTH, 3/8 INCH. TLINGIT INDIANS (KOLUSCHAN STOCK), SITKA, ALASKA. 9,939. COLLECTED BY CAPT. HENRIQUES. EXPLANATION OF GAME.--EACH PLAYER, IN TURN, SELECTS A NUMBER OF STICKS FROM HIS BAG AND PLACES THEM UNDER A HEAP OR HEAPS OF BARK TOW. HIS OPPONENT THEN GUESSES WHETHER THIS NUMBER IS EVEN OR ODD, OR IN WHICH OF TWO PILES A CERTAIN STICK IS HIDDEN. ACCORDING AS HIS GUESS IS A SUCCESS OR A FAILURE, HE GAINS OR LOSES ONE OR MORE STICKS. THIS IS KEPT UP UNTIL ONE OF THE PLAYERS LOSSES HIS ENTIRE SET AND THUS FORFEITS THE ARTICLE BET UPON THE GAME. THE TLINGITS ARE INVETERATE GAMBLERS."Virginia Oliver made the following comments during the Tlingit Recovering Voices Community Research Visit, March 13-March 24, 2017. This gambling set features an abalone inlay on the ends of some of the gambling sticks.