DCHP-1 Online

snowsnake † 

• 1a n. an Indian game played with a straight wooden rod having a weighted head resembling that of a snake, this rod being slid over a smooth field of snow or down specially constructed runways. Also snowsnakes.

  See also: snake  

  • 1888  If this is the game spoken of by other writers as "Snow-snakes," there is nothing in the [Abenaki] name to so indicate.
  • 1935  In winter the children . . . vied with each other in the widely-spread game of snow-snake.
  • 1956  Another game, seldom seen now, called "snow snake," was played in winter. . . .
  • 1966  One of the oldest winter sports among the Indians of the Iroquois country . . . snowsnakes is beginning a revival after a slowdown of several years.

• 1b n. the rod used in this game.

  See also: snake-stick  

  • 1932  Did you ever see a snow snake?
  • 1958  Snowshoes, hickory walking sticks, and snowsnakes (used in a traditional game) as well as a few masks are still made on various reserves.
  • 1966  [Caption] Fred Green of Ohseweken examines highly polished snowsnake. Made from maple, ash, oak, or hickory, snakes range from 4 to 9 feet in length.

• 2 n. North, Trademark See quote at Sikusi.

  See also: Sikusi  

  • 1958  Each year there is a competition for the invention of a strange new northern animal--a contest in which clever taxidermists are apt to carry off the honours with such fantastic creations as the "snow snake" (a snake with a coat of fur).