The photos definitely help tell the story, but I’d recommend looking up videos as well. Seems like a very exciting game.

Article text:

Tucked in the Northwest Territories, about an hour’s drive west of Yellowknife, is the Tłı̨chǫ Dene community of Behchokǫ̀. Things move at a slower pace here. Aside from the sound of snowmobiles zipping around, it’s quiet. But for one weekend every March, Behchokǫ̀ is the loudest, most frenetic place north of 60.

Players and spectators from across the region descend on the Kǫ̀ Gocho Sportsplex Centre to attend the Ediwa Weyallon Men’s Handgames Tournament, named for the late, respected Behchokǫ̀ elder. It is considered the biggest annual handgames tournament in Canada.

“This is like the playoffs for the Stanley Cup,” says Dolphus Nitsiza, one of the tournament organizers. “It’s amazing!”

The origin of handgames is unclear, but most Dene agree that it precludes European colonization of the North. Nitsiza says that hunters and trappers played for things they needed while on the land harvesting caribou or fish. Later, pocket change and cigarettes and matches were up for grabs. In some instances, disputes between communities were resolved by playing handgames.

“I heard elders say that people lost entire dog teams, rifles and sleeping bags – things that are very important,” says Clifford Daniels, Chief of Behchokǫ̀.

Watching handgames is mesmerizing, even if you’ve watched a hundred times. Drummers pound loudly on caribou hide drums. Players chant and sway back and forth in sync to the beat. Hands flap and fists pump back and forth, up and down. Ask any non-Dene or outsider how to play and they will certainly shrug and shake their head in bewilderment.

At its most basic and metaphorical, a group of prey (the hiders) must elude a hunter (the shooter). Two teams of eight players face each other; in between the teams are 21 sticks that represent points. One team has a shooter, while each of the eight opposing players hides a token in one of their hands.

The shooter uses a variety of gestures to guess which hider’s hand the token is in. If a shooter misses, the team that is hiding tokens gets a stick (or several sticks, depending on how many players the shooter misses).

If the shooter guesses correctly, the unsuccessful hider is eliminated for the round. After a shooter has guessed all the hiders in a round, the teams switch roles. The game goes on like this until one team has all 21 sticks. Games can last a few minutes or a few hours.

In some Alberta, B.C. and Yukon tournaments, women have been allowed to compete. But in the Northwest Territories, this is a game for men. “It’s always been that way. Even the women forbid themselves from playing,” says Daniels. “But they are really involved in other ways. Look at the vests and drums. Somebody’s cleaned and scraped the hide,” he says.

The drummers act as official hype-men, doing their best to pump up their team while the hiders, in turn, move with a visceral energy, concealing the tokens in their fists and taunting the shooters when they miss.

They don’t stop, even if the power goes out mid-game.

“There’s some pros out there, man. Some ancient warriors have honed their craft over the years,” says Ashton Gahdele, a 20-year-old player from Lutsel K’e. “I have a really fun time whenever I’m playing. This tournament here in Behchokǫ̀ is, like, so different from other games because it’s so huge,” he says.

This year, 62 teams from Dene communities in the Northwest Territories, Northern Alberta and Northern B.C. played for a cut of the $150,000 purse. The winning team split $40,000.

During the games, Behchokǫ̀ sees between 1,000 and 1,500 visitors to the community, which itself is only 2,000 residents.

Players jam the hotels in nearby Yellowknife or stay with friends, while others sleep on cots and inflatable mattresses at the cultural

“I think the community really likes this event because we get to see relatives and friends that we haven’t seen in a year or longer,” says Chief Daniels.

“The younger generation is going to carry this on. And even though some of the elders can’t play anymore, it brings back a lot of memories for them.”

No gift for paywalled story. ☹️