In the 15th century, Native Americans played with a cowhide ball stuffed with hair, using their feet

The young men and women of the Kiowa tribe, settled in what are now New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma, played the game. The United States presented a description of the game and the characteristics of the ball in Madrid in 1892, during the American Historical Exposition commemorating the 400th anniversary of the Discovery of America.

Research by Ítalo Sifuentes Alemán

In 1892, in Madrid, the American Historical Exhibition was held with the occasion of commemorating the IV Centenary of the Discovery of America. Each of the 19 participating countries presented a selection of their pre and post Colombian antiquities, with their full details in their respective informative catalogues. In the case of the United States, the objects that were taken were in charge of several technical commissions specialized in the cultures that were in this territory before the arrival of Cristóbal Colón on the new continent. The president of the United States Commission was retired Rear Admiral Stephen Bleecker Luce (1827-1917).

In 1892, United States in its exhibition catalog presented this brief historical tour: “The oldest city of the United States is San Augustin, in Florida, founded by the Spanish in 1565. The first English colony was Jamestown, in Virginia, established in 1607. The city of New York was founded in 1614 by the Dutch. In 1620, the Puritans founded the Massachusetts colony. Since then, the civilization has developed rapidly. In 1776, the colonies declared themselves independent of Great Britain.”

The participation of this country in the Exposition Histórico Americana, which took place in the new building of the Library and Museums, located in Madrid’s Paseo de Recoletos, was approved by the Congress of the United States of America through a closed act on May 2, 1892. This exhibition in the Spanish capital was I took it from October 30th of this year to January 31st of 1893.

From the pre-Colombian era in the United States, this country exhibited in Madrid several objects from the games of the Kiowa Native Americans, a tribe based in part of the territory of the current states of New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma. The information was provided by the Ethnology department of the National Museum of the United States. The objects formed part of the collection of James Mooney (February 10, 1861-December 22, 1921), an American ethnologist who worked at the United States Ethnology Office. He was a student of cultural objects from the Kiowa, Cheyenne and Cherokee tribes.

In the 1892 catalogue, American objects placed on shelves VII and VIII of the exhibition in Madrid are described. The information is related to a football game with the feet (football) that women and young Kiowas practice. These are the texts published this year:

“Pelota game with the pie (football), piece of fur-filled cow’s skin. Diameter, 3 1/2 inches. Kiowas Indians (Kiowan branch). Department of Kiowa. Indian Territory, 1891. Collected by James Mooney”.

“The game of “football” is played by women and young men. The ball is not thrown with the foot like the white players do; the game consists of sustaining the ball for as long as possible on the fingers of a foot while dancing with the other”.

While another game of Kiowas, with pellet and stick (cayado), is described that:

«Cayado y pelota. El cayado es corvado por um extremo. La pelota es de cuero y rellenada de pelo. This game es para mujeres. Largo, 3 pies. Kiowas Indians (rama Kiowana). Department of Kiowa. Indian Territory, 1891. Collected by James Mooney».