A wood stick notched at one end. Buckskin laces attached to the balls and the pegs are tied at this notched groove. Two balls of buckskin formed of two sewn pieces of buckskin and sewn with heavy thread. Probably stuffed with deer hair or buckskin. A lace is permanently attached to the ball. This is used to tie them to the stick. A set of flat wood begs hand carved with sharpened points. A hole is burned in the top of each peg through which a buckskin lace passes forming a loop when tied to the stick.

Groups would commonly used counting sticks to keep track of scores during stickball games. Because they were traditionally used in a society without numbers, counting sticks were used to keep track of scores.

Tags: stickball stick, ball, counting sticks, pegs
People: Muscogee (Creek)
Places: Southeast, Eastern Oklahoma
Purpose: ceremonial use, stickball games

From interviews with Dr. Garrick Bailey, 2018-2020 University of Tulsa, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology