Join us in the Red Raider Ballroom of the Student Union Building at 7pm on November 6 for “Southern Plains Handgame Exhibition: Exploring the Roles of Tradition and Song in a Native American Pastime.”

Members of the Kiowa Tribe, Comanche Nation, and Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes will present a program on the handgame, a traditional Native American pastime. The handgame is played throughout North America, including on the Southern Plains. The presenters will share the history of the game, as well as their efforts to preserve it and pass it on to the next generation. In addition, they will highlight the central role that music plays in the handgame. Handgame songs, sung to the accompaniment of hand drums and rattles, are an important component of the game. After the presentation, they will present a series of exhibition matches, allowing the public to witness firsthand how the game is played. Three teams representing the three tribes will take turns playing one another, ensuring that the public has a chance to hear songs from all three tribes.

Co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Texas Folklife, the TTU Vernacular Music Center, and the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work.

[Image: Sherman Chaddlesone (Kiowa, 1947-2013), “Kiowa Hand Game” (2007). Kiowa Tribe Art Collection at the Kiowa Casino in Devol, Oklahoma. Image courtesy of the Kiowa Tribe and the family of Sherman Chaddlesone.]