This is a work of fiction, set in the near future. The Pitch-off Mountain rancheria does not exist as described, nor does the Goose Farm rancheria, nor the casino that my imagination created for that place.

The physical land forms and places described are real, as are the Maidu stories and lore integrated into this work. Although many of these events were inspired by real experiences from my twenty-five years of playing handgame with various tribes of California and Nevada, the people and events described are creations of my imagination, with the exception of Bald Rock Jim, a well-known old-time Concow Maidu doctor of the Bald Rock area who died in the 1920’s. I’ve used the name Robin in tribute to two women of nearly the same name who are wonderful handgame partners, but the character is totally fictional. I’d particularly like to thank both men who called themselves ‘Coyote Man’, whose work was inspirational for this book, and my friend Dr. M. Makooi, who generously lent me his laptop computer for months at a time, which greatly facilitated the writing of this book during my travels.

Many of the gambling songs consist only of ‘lucky syllables’, and have no literal meaning, so language is no barrier to enjoying them. Tapes of these songs in real handgames are available.

The handgame, in its diverse forms, is played throughout much of the United States, especially Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Utah. The Aleuts picked up the game from the Kashaya Pomo people when they were brought by the Russian traders to Fort Ross in California, and the handgame then spread back to Alaska. Many local variations exist. It’s known by many names, including Grass Game, Bone Game, Stick Game, Gambling Game, Tep-Weh, Tep-Wi, Ch’enlahi and many others.

I’ve attempted to accurately integrate old-time Maidu handgame calls and songs as far as I know them, and I have attempted in my primitive way to transcribe these to western, romamized notation.

I hope my Maidu and Paiute friends and other handgame players will forgive me for any transgressions and errors I have made.

Bill Rathbun
www.yerbabuenapress.com