By Allan Houser (1914–1994) Was Sculpted in Bronze and Measures 46 1/2 Inches X 21 Inches X 10 Inches

COVER ART The cover art, “Timeless Images,” by Allan Houser (1914–1994) was sculpted in bronze and measures 46 1/2 inches x 21 inches x 10 inches. During his lifetime, Houser produced nearly 1000 sculptures in stone, wood and bronze, and he emerged as a major figure on an international scale. Houser’s work has been featured in gallery and museum exhibitions throughout the United States, Europe and Asia for five decades and he received honors such as the National Medal of the Arts from President George Bush in 1992. His first major marble carving was “Comrade in Mourning,” a commissioned work completed in 1948 as a memorial to Native American students from the Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas, who died in World War II. This renowned artist of the American Southwest left a legacy for future generations. His mediums have included everything from charcoal and pastel drawings to acrylic, tem- pera, casein and watercolors. As a sculptor, Houser continued a lineage that could be traced to the massive, expressive figures of Auguste Rodin and Gaston Lachaise. N ATIVE A MERICAN C ONTRIBUTIONS TO W INTER S PORTS ©2001 SLOC. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without prior written permission of SLOC. All rights reserved. For educational purposes only. highly respected and rarely was a decision challenged by a player, even if the referee was a member of the village or community of the other team. The players and communities respected the spiritual leaders and did not question their integrity. There was no appeal beyond the spiritual leaders judging the contests. Natives in North and South America have a strong tradition of sport, although tightly bound to their communities and religious beliefs. Many Native athletes, such as the famous Jim Thorpe, have contributed to pro- fessional and amateur sports. Contemporary sport is generally played N ATIVE A MERICAN outside of Native social and spiritual communities, and, while Natives are usually strong supporters of community high school teams, few C ONTRIBUTIONS TO W INTER S PORTS Native athletes pursue sports careers within the United States or Canadian society. By Duane Champagne, Ph.D. Duane Champagne is professor of sociology and, since 1992, director of University of California, Los Angeles the American Indian Studies Center at University of California, Los Angeles. He is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa from North Dakota. He is the author and editor of more than 60 publications Commissioned by the Salt Lake 2002 Cultural Olympiad including Native America: Portraits of the Peoples, The Native North Raymond T. Grant, Artistic Director American Almanac, and Social Order and Political Change: Constitutional The Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games Governments Among the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Creek. and Paralympic Winter Games of 2002 Champagne’s research focuses primarily on social and cultural change in historical and contemporary American Indian communities. He has writ- Front cover art: “Timeless Images” by Allan Houser, 1988 ten about Cherokee, Tlingit, Iroquois, Delaware, Choctaw, Northern Copyright Mrs. Anna Marie Houser/The Allan Houser Foundation Cheyenne, Creek, California Indians, and other communities. Since 1986, Professor Champagne has been the editor of the American Indian Culture and Research Journal. 7 ative American traditional sporting games are played today to the patient. Natives believed the games were closely integrated with as they have been for thousands of years, and elements of the powerful spirits of the cosmos, and victory went to the team that Nthose games have been integrated into the greater social had their favor. Elaborate rituals of purification, fasting and abstinence context. Many contemporary Native games have evolved into winter were observed. Prayers, abstinence of sexual relations before and after sports including some Olympic Winter Games. the event, sweats and ritual observances were required, sometimes as much as 10 days before and after a game. Elders and spiritual leaders The widely played Native games of lacrosse and shinny were sometimes provided advice, guided the players in purification and prayer and led played on ice. The ball and stick in shinny resemble a hockey puck and ceremonies to help ensure victory and win favor, respect and aid from stick. Most likely shinny is a precursor to modern hockey. The game powerful spiritual beings. Players painted themselves in ritual manner of hockey has obscure origins, although British soldiers were playing and wore the distinctive markings of their team, although the players a form of hockey on Lake Ontario in 1855. The modern rules of hockey each had unique painted patterns according to his own taste and the were not widely accepted until 1875 when students at the University advice of his spirit helpers. Before the games, men, women and children of Montreal started playing the game. While shinny is not played with prepared with dancing, drumming, music, cheers and prayers, which ice skates, it is probable the British soldiers and French Canadians encouraged favor with the spirits who would provide their team with had long observed it and other Native team sports. The modern game victory, healing and answers to their needs. joins the ice-skating tradition of Europe with the organization of the Native game. A widespread aspect to important games was extensive wagering among players and spectators. Betting on major games was a favorite pastime, Lacrosse, shinny and double ball are played by two teams on a field with and often the Native community members engaged spiritual leaders, goals on each end. The purpose is to send the ball across the goal for a who looked over the betting agreements to ensure that equal-value score. Double ball was played by women, or young girls, although they goods were wagered and that fair distributions were made when the also played shinny and lacrosse, usually against other women. They contest was finished. Sometimes significant goods were wagered, but were encouraged to play vigorously and show athleticism. most Natives believed they were redistributing goods within the community or with other allied communities. Losses could be replaced by Lacrosse is a game with a ball and small rackets, shinny was played with family members and other community members who were obligated to sticks and a ball, and double ball was played with a stick and two balls see that none in the community was without protection. Spiritual lead- tied together. The women who played double ball carried the two balls ers also served as referees during the games and ensured that the rules with a straight stick. In Native ball games, usually the ball and sticks are were kept and unruly behavior curtailed. Players were expected to main- decorated with sacred markings. Snow Snake is a winter game of tain a high standard of sportsmanship, because the games events were endurance and skill in which a pole, artistically decorated to resemble a influenced by the spirits, and to complain about the outcome might be offensive to their powers. Incidents and injuries during the games were attributable to powers of the spirits. Spiritual leaders as referees were 1 6 villages, clans against clans or bands against bands. Often, when two large groups gathered for ceremonies and associated games, each side put forward players for a competition. A side could have hundreds of players, and often the field of play was enlarged to accommodate the large number. Although there were no set rules on the number of players, the two sides had to have the same number. Elders and spiritual leaders agreed to the rules of play before commencement of a game. Games such as lacrosse, shinny and double ball, were usually played for religious ceremonial purposes and provided pleasure to communities. Games were played to help heal the sick, bring good fortune, assure victory in war and encourage well-being for the community. Natives often understood games as part of a long sequence of rituals performed for the well-being of the community and to establish or maintain harmonious relations with the spirit world. An ill person might request the tribe or Figure 1 local community to have a game in his or her honor. The game and Native Americans, including the Cheyenne, above, often passed long winters at their camps with games. Cheyenne Winter Games, 1951, by Dick West (1912-1996). sacred preparations were believed to bring favor and help restore health The Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma snake, is cast along the snow and ice to achieve the longest distance. The game is played by teams, and the team obtaining the longest distance wins. Native communities often gathered into winter camps and, with their stores gathered during the warm season, had plenty of time for games, storytelling and ceremonies. The Inuit people in the far north told sto- ries and held games of physical skill and endurance in order to entertain and keep in shape during the long winter months. The games and endurance tests today are kept alive in the annual Eskimo Olympics held in Alaska. Figure 3 Native contributions to contemporary winter sports include snowshoes, toboggans, winter goggles and dogsleds. The Iditarod is a 1150-mile While Native Americans played some individual sports, most games emphasized team competition. Above, Lakota play lacrosse on ice. Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C. dogsledding race based on the ancient Alaska Native tradition of raising 5 2 dogs to pull sleds. The Natives have bred the dogs for centuries and used While there is a tradition of sleds with runners in Europe, toboggans, the dog teams to travel long distances in the harsh Alaska winter envi- derived from an Algonquian word, follow similar principles of gliding ronment.

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