ball, Indian football made of tanned deerskin, stuff with soaproot riber and sewn with sinew. diameter: 21.cm.; W: 68 cm.
Donor:
Malcolm Margolin
Collection place:
Mono County, California
Verbatim coll. place:
California, Mono County, Miwok (made by Lucy Parker)
Culture or time period:
Paiute and Sierra Miwok
Collection date:
April 1994
Materials:
Deerskin and Sinew (material)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Balls (object genres)
Function:
5.6 Sports, Games, Amusements; Gambling and Pet Accessories
Accession date:
December 22, 1994
Context of use:
Sierra Miwok style game. The field was five hundred yards long with two goals at each end and there were two teams. No umpire or referee needed - a difference of opinion settled by spectators. The ball was placed in the middle of the field and kicked off at a given signal. The skill in the game lay in so kicking the ball that it would fall advantageously for the next player in the line to kick it toward the goal, scoring at each goal, repeatedly kicking the ball back to the middle of the field. No player was allowed to touch the ball with his hand while it was in motion. The game was played mainly by men or boys only.