Leisure Pursuits.

Native American peoples engaged in a variety of leisure activities. Heavy betting accompanied most games and contests. Warriors of all tribes competed in swimming and running matches to test their strength and endurance. A less rigorous activity was the hand game. Approximately eighty-one Plains and western tribes played this guessing game in which a person concealed objects in each hand. Another person would then guess which object was marked. If he chose correctly, the guesser won a counting stick; if he guessed wrong, he would lose one. The hand game was played by two teams with individuals from each side taking turns at guessing. Elaborate hand gestures, singing, and drumming marked the event, and it ended when one side won all the counting sticks.

Stickball Games.

At the time of European contact in 1492, the native inhabitants of North America played several...