FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 16, 2004

CONTACT: Jeff Mammenga, 605-773-6000

Native American Games exhibit coming to Cultural Heritage Center

PIERRE, S.D. – A multidisciplinary exhibit involving the sports, history and culture of more than 40 Native American tribes opens Saturday, April 17, at the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center.

“Native American Games” is a National Endowment for the Humanities award-winning exhibit on loan to the South Dakota State Historical Society from the Oklahoma Humanities Council and the Oklahoma Museums Association. The exhibit will run through Aug. 22.

 “Games played by American Indians are important reflections and expressions of their culture,” said Jay D. Vogt, director of the State Historical Society. “Stickball, lacrosse and other games taught survival and social skills and imparted values that were important to the tribes.”

The traveling exhibit includes game equipment, photographs from the University of Oklahoma’s Western History Collection, and the video tape “Little Brother of War,” which shows members of the Creek Nation playing stickball and participating in stickball ceremonies. To complement those items, the State Historical Society will feature game equipment from its collection at the Cultural Heritage Center and five paintings by noted South Dakota American Indian artist Oscar Howe depicting the playing of Native American games.

One third of the exhibit is devoted to lacrosse and stickball, two of the most popular Native American games. Lacrosse, once an Olympic sport, was adopted by whites and became the national game of Canada and a National Collegiate Athletic Association sport. Stickball was outlawed in Mississippi and discouraged in Oklahoma to prevent tribes from congregating in groups.

There are other games of skill and chance explored in “Native American Games.” During cold weather, children hurled snow snakes made of wood and bone sliders across snow or ice in competitions for distance. Also popular was “shinny,” a sport similar to hockey but played on dry land. Other activities represented are dice, hand ring and pin, hoop and pole, doubleball, moccasin and board games.

The Cultural Heritage Center is the headquarters of the State Historical Society, an office of the Department of Tourism and State Development. The museum is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and weekends from 1 to 4:30 p.m. There is a small admission fee. Children younger than 18 and members of the State Historical Society get in free.

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