However, the work ethos did not exclude play times and other leisurely activities. Following work times, or during a school recess, rough and rowdy outdoor games topped as play choices. Children chose “Tag”as a favored game, which saw many variations. Children played a familiar touch tag to shadow tag, where the person tagged, “it,” steps on the shadow of another person to catch them. They played “Three Times Around the House” which involved running around the house, barn or dugout three times without being touched. And if the kids were lucky enough to have trees in the vicinity, they played “Bear Tag”. In this version, trees were a free base that protected players from the person or “bear” who was “it”.
Children also played “Red Rover” and “Annie Over”. “Red Rover” required two teams and often became a pulling and tugging match, as one team member was called out to try to break through a chain of locked arms created by the other team. “Annie Over” required a building, like a schoolhouse, cabin or barn. It could be played in teams or singly. It involved throwing a ball over the building roof to be caught by someone on the other side. As the ball was thrown, the pitcher called out “Annie” and when it appeared on the other side, the catcher called out “Over”. Sometimes the ball wouldn’t make it over the roof, and as it rolled back down to the pitcher, who called out “Pigstail”. But if the ball made it over the roof and was caught without a single bounce, the catching team would sneak around the house and try to tag the pitching team.
Traditionally, Indigenous children and their communities focused on “hand games.” A favorite hand game, called ‘stick game.’ Historically, the People used specialized sticks and bones as a way to resolve conflict with neighboring communities. Hand games employ specialized sticks and bones sets handed down through generations. Today, hand games using the stick and bones can be found in any Native gatherings such as PowWows.Another favored game among Indigenous families centered on strings. Remember the familiar “Jacob’s Ladder” and “Cat’s Cradle?”
Children from both Settler and Indigenous communities played with homemade toys for indoor winter days. Girls made dolls from rags, cornhusks or dried apples. Boys often whittled a wooden toy called a ‘whimmydiddle’, which consisted of two notched sticks and a propeller. ‘Buzz saws’ were a flat button threaded on looped string. When the player pulled the looped string, in opposite directions, the button would spin like a saw blade. Whether using hoops or jump ropes, a whittling knife or just their imaginations, children found unique ways to have fun.
Information for this episode of High Plains History came from,Kansas Folklore, edited by Sackett and Koch. Stick games informationcame from the Osage, Diné, and Tulalip nations.
For High Plains Public Radio, I’m Debra Bolton in Manhattan, KS.
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Special thanks to Lynn Boitano for additional production assistance.
High Plains History is a production of High Plains Public Radio.
