Gambling Dice
Five Yokut gambling dice made out of walnut seeds, 119.046 A, B, C, D, & E are pictured left to right in the photo. Four of the five dice are brown or dark brown, while one lone die 119.046 A is black and doesn't have any abalone shell fragments in the filling inside the shell like the other ones do. 119.046 B seems to be missing an abalone shell fragment as a space is left in the filling, meaning it probably had three pieces of abalone shell before. 119.046 C has two pieces, and 119.046 D both have three pieces.
- Object: Gambling Dice
- Artist: -
- Circa: -
- Dimensions: ~ 1" D x 0.75" H
- Culture Area: California; Tulare
- Cultural Group: Yokut
- Cultural Context: "Games of chance were played by many of California’s indigenous peoples. This gambling tray would have been used for huuchuish, a game of dice played exclusively by women in which eight walnut-shell dice were thrown and sticks were used to keep score. The dice, score sticks, and participants are depicted in the circular design woven into this tray." (Art Institute of Chicago website)
- Donor: Ralph & Lois Stone
- Catalog #: 119.046