"I like to play"

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Cree Elder Caroline Whiskyjack, swathed from head to toe in colorful blankets, and armed with an equally colorful umbrella to use as her pointer, demonstrated amazing stamina at the Onion Lake First Nation 2000 hand game tournament.

Her high spirits and knowledge of the game left many younger players in the dust, especially as the game continued into the wee hours of the night.

"I have been playing since the thirties, taught by my older brother, Sylvester Cardinal. He learned from our parents and grandparents. It is about guessing where the bones are hidden, white bone and striped bone. It is lots of fun. If you miss, we all laugh. They don't get mad. I enjoy it. I am 77 and I like to play. My friends take me to different tournaments. I was born at Saddle Lake, the daughter of Edward and Maggie Cardinal. I had 17 children, raised 15 of my own and two grandchildren.

"I play all around the year and in the wintertime too. If you have the money, you play when you go. If you don't, you just watch. If you have $10, you play cards and if you win, you play the hand games. Even little kids are good players," said Whiskyjack.

The stories of origins of the hand games are different among different Cree tribes, said Whiskyjack.

"There was one old man from Frog Lake, Peter Waskahat, who told me the story of how the hand games got started. He said there was a Cree man whose boy was real sick all the time. One day they went to the river and meet a guy, a fisherboat guy, who told them, 'We will play hand games. It will heal you, your sickness. We will play and if you beat me, you are going to get well.' He showed them how to hide the bones and that sick man won, and then he was well. The fisherboat guy told him to go home, and he kept on playing hand games. It is a healing play. That is what that old man told me. That is all I know," said Whiskyjack.