Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Cultural Services

Item's Choctaw Name:  Towa

Item's English Name:  stickball ball

Age:  early 1900s?

Material: Wetscrape braintan and lacing

Dimensions: Average diameter = 5.0 cm

Origin: collected Scott / Neshoba Co, Ms, 1908

Current Owner:  National Museum of the American Indian, #018849.000

Location: Smithsonian Cultural Resource Center

Notes:

The covering and lacing on this ball are made of lightly tanned hide, with the grain layer still adhering. The ball was made by sewing together two circular pieces of this leather using a baseball stitch.  A running stitch was laced through the baseball stitch.  An additional running stitch was placed on each side of the baseball stitch.  The ball was then turned 90 degrees and yet another running stitch run around the ball.