This game with peach pits is played during mid-winter, sowing and harvesting ceremonies. It is a diversion dedicated to the Creator and a way of making decisions for the people.
Players in two teams (one on each side of the Town Hall) take turns shaking a flat-bottomed wooden bowl containing peach pits and then emptying it onto the ground or onto a platform.
During the mid-winter ceremony, each of the two teams is made up of clans (bear, wolf, turtle, etc.) that face each other. During the planting ceremony, the men play against the women, and the winning team will not have to plant that season.
The game is inspired by the story of creation iroquois, recreates the struggle for dominance of the first men on earth between the twins "New Growth" and " Flint“, one of them being good and the other bad. It is a game of chance considered sacred, played only in honor of the Creator. The message sent to them is one of gratitude for what they have and willingness to share.
In the bowl there are six peach pits which are blackened on one side
The game with peach pits
Between the players are placed the 100 beans that will be contested. Each player starts by taking 5 of them and will continue to take turns until they are done. There is no limit to the number of players per team, which will always be two.
The 5 grains plus an additional grain belonging to the Creator are placed in the bowl and it is the one that determines the outcome of the game. The participant shakes the bowl and throws its contents on a flat surface. The results can be:
| 5 grains of the same color | you get a grain from your opponent |
| 6 grains of the same color | you gain 5 grains from your opponent |
| 4 grains of the same color or less | we lose the turn |
The player keeps his turn as long as he obtains grains from his opponent, this one in the event of loss of the five grains will leave his place to another of his team who will start with five other grains. A new round begins and so on, when a team has less than 5 grains, they will continue with what is left until all the grains pass to one team, who will be the winner.
Each team has a container to place the grains they have won from the other team, they will keep it hidden so that no one can see the grains inside. After all the initial grains have been taken, they will be used to continue in the competition.
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