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Games

Listen to a sample of a bone game song (Note: songs are owned by specific families, therefore we can only share a portion of the song.)

Families owned certain games. They were forbidden, tupa't for anybody but the family and relatives to play.

Some games were for men: tops and shinny. Others were women's games: paddles used for hitting a piece of thimbleberry stem with feathers into the air, and dice made of beaver teeth. Today's elders remember that by their time, men too were allowed to play dice, but they made their throws in a different, simpler way than men did. The dice game, represented at Ozette by tokens of red elderberry, is remembered, but no longer played.

Women playing game Bone game

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All content for this exhibit is © Makah Cultural and Research Center.

The Community Museum is a project of community organizations and Tribes across the Olympic Peninsula, and the University of Washington.
Support for the project comes from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Preston, Gates and Ellis, LLP.