08/03/2003 5:32 PM -0700

I just got back from Kalispel Territory and lost my ass over there. Being a Native from the Pacific Northwest I was born to gamble. This weekend I played in a stickgame tournament on a team with a Coeur d'Alene, a Flathead, and two Blackfeet dudes (whose names I never did catch) We didn't do so hot in the tournament, so we started betting on the open games. I thought my prospects were good since I was betting on some of the best players in the Northwest. But in the end I averaged more losses than wins.

Stickgame has been an integral part of our culture for thousands of years. My dad taught us all how to play at a very young age. When we went to pow wows our parents used to go play with all the other adults, and us kids would have little side games of our own betting dollars.

One thing about stickgame players is they never seem to sleep. There would always be hundreds of players from hundreds of tribes, and so many games going on at once that they never seemed to end. You could hear them singing all night long, all weekend long from your camp. It would get to the point that the songs would stick in your head for days and days after the pow wow, and you would have no choice but to learn them.

I always wondered about the economics of the whole thing. Some weekends you could lose all your money, and then get it all right back the next weekend. Sometimes you would lose all summer long, and then win it all back the next summer. In the end, the same money just seems to circulate over and over and over between the same tribes, the same families, and the same players. This has been going on for years and years and years.

So, even though I didn't do so well this particular weekend, I know I will eventually win it all back (and lose it) and win it all back (and lose it) and win it all back (and lose it) for years and years and years..... as long as I keep playing.....