Stick Game

Stick Game, also known as Hand Game, is a guessing game played on the Ute reservation. It is not exclusive to Utes and is common among many Native communities. Stick Games run through both the Randlett and Ft. Duchesne Bear Dances.

Two opposing teams play the game, each with a leader. One team hides two pairs of "bones," one decorated as the black bone, one as the white. The other team guesses which hand a certain bone is in. The two teams, one "hiding" and one "guessing," sit opposite one another. Two members of the "hiding" team take a pair of bones and hide them. The rest of the team sings and uses drums and rattles to distract the guessing team.

The leader then must guess which hand a certain bone is in. For each wrong guess, the calling team must turn over one stick to the hiders. If they guess the hider, he must surrender the guessed bones to the calling side. The hiding side continues hiding and singing until both pairs of bones are found. Then the teams reverse roles, and the game continues until one team holds all the sticks.