AIHEC Hand Games Competition

Objectives

• Reinforce a cultural activity with rich Native American history.     

• Showcase talent and skills.

• Build comradery and sportsperson ship among the TCUs teams.

Competition Rules

1. Gambling, alcohol, or drugs of any kind will not be tolerated at any time at the annual AIHEC Student Conference and will result in automatic disqualification of an entire team.

2. Both Flathead-style and Cheyenne-style games will be the games of choice. The game of choice will be determined by the flip of a coin when two teams are drawn for a tournament game. The reason for implementing both styles of Hand games is to promote both games and make the AIHEC Hand Games more interesting and enjoyable to watch and compete with. The Cheyenne game is also played by Northern Arapaho, Northern Cheyenne, and the Lakota Nation. The winner of the coin flip will also determine which team hides the “bones” first.

3. The Hand Games Tournament will be double elimination rounds. After the first loss, the losing team moves into the loser’s bracket. The team is eliminated after the second loss.

4. Teams shall have six (6) players and no more than twelve (12) players with a designated team captain.

5. Team captains shall recruit one (1) judge for each of their games. Judges may be a coach or captain from another team’s roster.

6. Only the players registered on the team’s official roster will be allowed to hide and/or guess.

7. Additional people from various Tribal Colleges and Universities may help sing, but they are not allowed to hide and/or guess.

8. Players are not permitted to be registered on more than one team.

9. Each Tribal College or University shall only have one (1) team registered.

10. All team members shall be registered on the team’s official roster (ID’s will be checked with ID badges distributed).

11. Each team captain is responsible for meeting the schedule as posted. Each team is expected to arrive on time. A fifteen (15) minute grace period will be allowed. Teams not prepared to begin after fifteen (15) minutes will forfeit that game.

12. Team jumping is not permitted and will result in forfeiting.

13. If a team does not have any singers, they may recruit a singer from another team.

14. Registration forms shall be submitted to the Hand Games coordinator one week prior to the start of the competition.

15. Two (2) sets of “bones” for each team, two (2) marked “bones” and two (2) unmarked “bones” for each team.

16. Team shall use the “bones” provided by the tournament coordinators.

17. No blocking players and a middle line will separate the teams.

Source: https://www.aihec2026.com/hand-games

Hand Games Coach