Shinny Stick

Wooden spoon-shaped sticks. Burnt decoration in wide spiral bands on grip. "Ball sticks of spoon type used in the earlier ball games before the netted type were adopted. Used about 60-70 years ago. Method of using similar to the modern form of the game except that ball was scooped and shoved on ground more than thrown in the air. (Specimen the only one of their kind known). Ex-chief Sampson Owl remembers seeing this type used about 1860 at Cherokee ball ground on hill near Ela, N.C. Specimens of Buck-eye wood obtained from Standing Deer through Mr. Lloyd. Standing Deer's tradition of "spoon" sticks was independent of Sampson's Owl's. The ball was shoved across the ground, cast, thrown, and caught as with netted sticks.