What did the Blackfoot Indians do for fun?

Answer 1

Listening to older members of the hunting band talking about their lives and war experiences was always the most popular way of spending an evening. People of all ages played games, but among adults these were often gambling games with food, clothing, travois, robes, weapons or horses offered as stakes.

Adult women enjoyed the "travois game", when two women sat opposite each other with five flat pieces of buffalo bone, four of them marked on one side and the fifth with marks at each end. One women threw four of these "dice" onto a blanket - landing four marked sides up made her the winner, otherwise she was allowed eight attempts to get that result by throwing the fifth bone at them in order to make them turn over. Then the other player took her turn and a score was kept.

"Fancy gambling" involved two short pieces of bone that could be hidden in the hand. One bone was marked, the other plain. The contestants sat on the ground facing each other, with a tipi pole laid between them; one player hid the bones in his hands while his team mates drummed on the lodgepole with sticks - the opponent then had to guess which hand held the marked bone. If he was wrong the hider's team scored a point and continued to hide the bones for the next round - if he guessed correctly his team scored the point and they took a turn at hiding. Twelve willow sticks were used to keep track of the points and the first team to win all twelve were the victors.

Men played a version of the hoop and pole game, where a small wheel-like circlet of rawhide with spokes was rolled along a prepared course, then two players armed with arrow-like sticks threw them at the hoop which was decorated with coloured beads - points were scored according to where the arrows landed in relation to these beads.

Horse racing a foot races were very popular.

Children's games included a version of tag, boy's Archery games shooting at moving targets, snow snake, Wrestling, sliding on snowy hillsides using buffalo hides or sleds of willow and rib bones, spinning tops, ball games and swimming.

Answer 2

Native Americans danced to show important stories of their history or religion. Also, Indians danced for celebrations of new or large harvests, war success, marriages, and other large celebrations. Nowadays Native Americans dance to remember their heritage and history.

Answer 3

they did the war dance the sun dance the ghost dance the animal dance and the ceremonial dance