Stickgame

Stickgame is an important part of the culture of North Western tribes of the U.S. Playing Stickgame allows for the tribes on the Flathead Reservation to exercise their treaty rights. But these tribes aren’t the only ones who play Stickgame. There are tournaments in Washington, Idaho, Montana, North and South Dakota, and many other Western states. 

Stickgames go back for generations. In the beginning players used to put up bets which included clothing, beadwork, baskets, horses, teepees or any other material things they had. In Stickgame, players sit on opposite sides of each other. People can choose what side they want to sit on, and each side has one captain, called the “pointer.” The pointer handles all of the sticks, which players use to  earn points. Each side gets five  sticks and the one who wins the “Kick Stick” gets an extra stick, but they must keep that stick aside because if they accidentally throw the Kick Stick over, then the other team wins.To begin playing, the pointer must hand out bones to two people, the hiders. Each person gets two  bones, one white and the other with a black stripe on it. The pointer on the opposing team has to guess which hand the white bone is in by pointing which direction they think. If they point towards the bone with the black stripe, which is called the Black Bone, then they lose a point. Each team uses their sticks to keep track of points; if your pointer guesses wrong for one hider, your team has to throw a stick to the other team. If your pointer is wrong about both hiders, then you lose two sticks. But if your pointer guesses right for both hiders, then the bones pass to your team. Once the other team has thrown over all of their sticks, then your team has to also win your own five by continuing to outguess your opponents. Once you have won all ten sticks, then you win. 

Today in Stickgame people mainly bet money, ranging from $20 to $500, but there are still material games where you could bet material things. In order to bet, someone would need a set amount of money, like $20, then you have to find someone on the other team who is also willing to bet $20. If you win, then you get both twenties, doubling your money.

For the Ksanka tribe, Stickgame is a big deal. Some have been around Stickgame all their lives. This is the case for Rosemary Caye. She has seen the game change over the years, especially with all the new players coming in. She said, “Back then you would go to a powwow and you’d all go because of stickgame. Today people wait and they go to the big casino tournaments and they don’t go to the other ones like they did in the past.” Today the biggest Stickgame tournaments are held at a tribe’s casino like at the Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort Hotel, where they hold many tournaments over the year. Caye recalls powwows like the ones at Elmo and Arlee, with $30,000 bets and people coming from all over Indian country, like Canada, Utah, California, Washington, and Idaho. Caye mentions Ksanka have always played traditional games, stickgame being one of them that’s even mentioned in many of the Ksanka legends. Caye mentions, “But our people have always gamed like I said, there’s a legend, a couple legends with that and how it’s changed.” Today people use deer hide drums to help them sing, but back then they used a big pole in the middle, which was made out of wood and resembled a teepee pole, and they would use that to sing. They also did use drums but they mostly used the poles in the middle.

Stickgame isn’t just about playing for fun or for the money bets; it is also about healing. Caye says, “They say that songs heal you and I believe that’s the biggest part of it is the songs, the beauty of the songs. And the way they sing with passion and with heart.” She mentions that some people go to the Stickgames to just listen to the songs, and just hearing the songs help people, and for others it’s singing the songs that helps them.

Marilyn Caye, another Ksanka elder and Rosemary’s sister, also commented, “Our dad said it was healing to learn our songs and they’re beautiful songs, and the songs that we sing in our family are Ktunaxa songs.” Each tribe has their own songs, and in the old days other tribes could recognize what tribe you are from by the songs you sang. But today it’s like a big mixing pot of songs. Tribes like Crow, Blackfeet, Salish and many others share their songs and sing them. But the Ksanka tribe try to sing their own songs to keep that tradition alive. Caye said, “That’s our culture and our traditions, you know, that’s who we are and our family’s a big part of that because we still follow our culture and traditions.” Today Stickgame is different from when they used to play, but the love for the game is still there. People that go to connect with family and friends, sing their songs, and to just play the game. For the youth that play stickgame, they get to connect with other Native youth and learn their songs, they can surround themselves with someone else that they can relate to and share their love for the game and their culture. But Stickgame isn’t exclusive among the Native Tribes, anyone could play. If they put the time in to learn all of the customs and the rules of the game then anyone   Playing with family and friends can really heal a person if they’re going through a stressful time in their life. Stickgame, even with all of its changes, still connects and heals people, still being a very big traditional game that goes back from time immemorial just shows how much stickgame positively affects native people everywhere.