Northwest Coast gambling paraphernalia are found in many museums and are usually accompanied by very meagre catalogue entries. The Accumulation of a number of sources pertaining to this category of material culture was therefore seen as a worthwhile task. Even a superficial examination of these gambling implements suggests that they were associated, with a very popular and possibly important activity, at least prior to European contact. This paper is an attempt to construct a profile of gambling on the Northwest Coast and to assess its importance in the culture. Three main sources of data were drawn upon for this purpose: (1) the material culture itself and the associated records located in museums; (2) the published ethnographic literature; and (3) the published myths. From these sources the analysis yielded a number of conclusions. The first is that gambling was a very popular activity. Secondly, a large degree of homogeneity can be seen to have existed in the areas considered. With a few exceptions, basically similar games of chance were played throughout the entire area, areal differences being quantitative rather than qualitative. A similar pattern is seen in the themes of gambling stated in the myths: there are a few main themes, but details differ from place to place. A third conclusion is that gambling usually involved very high stakes; and a fourth is that losing much was considered shameful, especially when a gambler lost other people's property. A fifth conclusion, supported by the data, is that serious gambling for high stakes was considered strictly a man's activity. A sixth conclusion is that cheating was common, expected, and accepted as part of the play as long as it was not discovered. The seventh conclusion is that the data stress the link between the supernatural and games of chance. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

The thesis examines in detail the histories and customs of Coast Salish gambling games, and looks at the game structure and its attending spirit power affiliations. Three principal sources of data were employed in the explication of the thesis: (1) pertinent ethnographical data recorded in published reference literature and archival documents, (2) information acquired from various museums on the relevant material culture in their collections and the attending documentation, (3) empirical data collected in the field through direct game observation and the interviewing of informants. The study concludes as the circumstance of Coast Salish gambling games suggests that these games are not just a simple set of rules, and that the games discussed here have, on the other hand, meaningful functions and serve as a form of social expression. As a social mechanism, Coast Salish gambling games are a forum for supernatural power. The existence of power is seen as the basic influence in Coast Salish life, and as such, powers are given meaning as ontological expressions. The gambling games are seen to be an expression of man's power affiliations. Power is an element which may affect the outcome of each gambling event, and the gambling games thereby may be an endorsement of power favour. In view of this concept, Coast Salish gambling games appear to be useful devices to measure the differential degrees or strengths of power among players. Further, it can be said that one of the functions of these games is that they give tangible and observable verification of the influence of power. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

Slahal is a gambling game played by North American natives on the North Pacific coast. This activity is of particular interest to the ethnomusicologist because of the large body of songs which not only accompanies but also is intimately linked with it. The thesis which follows is a résumé of research done over the past two and one-half years and deals with the slahal songs of the Coast Salish. I begin with a description of the game itself the object of which is to guess the location of two tokens concealed in the hands of the opponents. We soon learn that gambling music, as one may say about music in general, has a certain power -- the ability to elevate the entire game experience into a different and more exciting realm than that of an ordinary game. The main bulk of the thesis is in the second part where I have presented 77 representative songs out of 194, transcribed from over twelve hours of music. Along with the songs are analyses and comments which are found in summary form in Part III. The concluding section touches upon the significance of slahal in present-day Indian culture. / Arts, Faculty of / Music, School of / Graduate

This thesis compares the ancient games played by the Blackfoot confederacy and the Hopi Pueblos and examines their contemporary application. A literature review resulted in the aggregation of 34 Blackfoot games and 34 Hopi games. The 68 games were clustered into games of dexterity, guessing games, amusement, and games in legend. Twenty games were selected to be compared in the areas of equipment, purpose of play, how the game was played, number of participants, the gender allowed to play, the age of participants, season of play, the length of time to play the game, scoring, and how a winner was declared. This study also examines, through the literature review, personal communication and Internet information that the ancient games of the Blackfoot and the Hopi have contemporary application, which may be achieved with slight variations. Additional information on the composition, origins, linguistic families, possible tribal associations, and some European encounters of the Blackfoot and the Hopi was provided. This information is included as context to aid in the exclusion of games that may have been adopted from the Europeans. The thesis concludes there is an urgent need to identify the ancient games of Blackfoot and Hopi before knowledgeable elders are gone. Also it is recommended that this not be the end of the study of the games, but that it only be a beginning on which to build. / xiii, 116 leaves ; 29 cm.