All Indians are so devoted to games and gaming that the familiar sobriquet of “inveterate gambler” is well deserved. But the sport to which they are most addicted is not, as is popularly supposed, the playing of cards. That is a vice which the Indian has learned from his white conquerors and which has proved so baneful that it is now forbidden under rather heavy penalties by the agents on all the reservations. It so happens that cards and “nine-men’s morris” are two of the very few games the Indian ever borrowed from the white man. These are well balanced by lacrosse and racket, which are the gifts of the Indian to the white man. Games of all kinds, often quite trivial in appearance, are played persistently by both men and women, apparently as a mere pastime, regardless of the wager involved; but one can be pretty certain that there is hardly any daily pursuit whose enjoyment for the Indian is not enhanced by some stake. Also it is not to be forgotten that to every individual of the race, the underlying religious significance of almost all the games he plays constitutes an important factor in his development, and practically all of them, when carefully studied, are found to be so intimately interwoven with religious beliefs and practices that Indian games may be said generally to possess a devotional significance. It is probable that some of the games have a divinatory meaning. Consequently, though betting is the commonest detail of every day, the Indian’s real absorption is usually in the game itself rather than in the stake involved. Since, in general, the great games are played ceremonially to secure fertility, to give life and prolong it, to expel demons, or to cure sickness, these are all sure to come at the seasonal periods of planting and of harvest, or in especial times of disaster to individuals or communities. Such races as those still run at Ácoma and at Zuñi are visible proof that the physical vigor characteristic of the Pueblo tribes in days of old has not vanished. The invading Spaniards were not seldom amazed by the indomitable courage of the Indians in facing hardships and their endurance of cruel suffering without blenching. The stoicism with which they bear wounds with no outcry is not achieved without much discipline, and the Indian from his childhood is no stranger to pain. The early morning programme of an Indian of one of the northern tribes may be taken as typical of all: He would bathe, rub himself down with hemlock branches till the skin tingled with pain, pray to the sky chief and, most important of all, carry out secret magical performances.