Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 116, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 October 1904 — INDIAN BALL A GORY GAME. [ARTICLE]

INDIAN BALL A GORY GAME.

Contests Are Often Bloodier than Most Desperate Struggles of the Gridiron. Indian ball Is a peculiar, a fascinating and a bloody game. It Is played on a ground almost like a gridiron. There are two goals 150 yards apart and the object is to pass the ball between these goals. The ball is like a baseball, the Indians making them themselves with yarn covered with deerskin. A stick about two feet long with a spoon shape at the end by thong laces is used and in this spoon the Indian jpust, catch the ball. He is not allowed touch it with his hands. He catches and throws with ids club. The game is a skirmish nil the time and there are 20 players on a side. An Indian catches the ball in his stick if he is skillful. He starts on a run for his goal. He is immediately tackled by all his opponents and the scene closely resembles a "down.” He runs as far as he can and then tries to throw the ball. The opposing players balk at him at every move. They strike his stick if they can and if not they strike whatever is in reach, often the head of the player. The games are sometimes bloody, especially when played between rival towns, and many a player has been killed in a garnet When women play they are allowed to use their hands in addition to their sticks. They can throw the ball any way they like. They are as fleet as the men, and, with the advantage of their hands, often wifl. A game consists of 21 points and there is no time limit. They play until one side has put the ball through the 21 times.