Games

The Maidu favorite games were a stick/pass and ball race, with different versions developed for males and females. They did not appear to play the hoop and pole game of their Miwok neighbors to the south. These games didn't necessary involve a round ball like we are familiar with today.

The girls played a game that was essentially a stationery relay race with each girl holding a stick. Two lines of girls formed and would race to pass an object, using their stick to toss it from one to the next, from the back of the line to the front the fastest. They might use acorns on a string, a bundle of bark or a braided rope to pass along by the sticks. The first team to have their object arrive at the front of the line won.

The boys played a ball game made of a tanned deerskin stuffed with deer hair. First the boys would form two lines that became two teams. Sometimes the teams were from the same village, other times this took place at regional festivals and saw villages competing against one another. The boys would kick this ball along their line of players, racing to get their team's ball to the head of the line first.