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Evidence in Embu
1 pieces of evidence found.
Id DLP.Evidence.1942
Type Ethnography
Game Uthi
Date 1925-01-01 - 1925-12-31
Rules Two row board with a variable number of holes and two stores. Five counters per hole. On each player's first move, they sow three counters into the first hole and two into the second hole. After this, sowing proceeds as usual, with one counter in each hole. Sowing may occur in either direction. When the final counter lands in an occupied hole, the contents of this hole are picked up and sowing continues in the opposite direction. When the final counter falls in an empty hole in the player's own row, the contents of the opposite hole are captured. If the final counter falls into the first of a series of empty holes, the contents of all of the holes opposite the empty holes are captured. It is necessary to enter the opponent's row first and return before making a capture.If the final counter lands in an empty hole in the opponent's row, the turn ends. The winner is the player who has captured the most counters.
Content Account of Orde Browne, from the Embu people of Kenya: "It is known in Embu as uthi...
The board consists of a slab of wood some three feet
long, ten inches wide and three inches thick. In this
are hollowed out two rows of square holes, rounded
at the bottom like the cash receptacles in a till, to
enable the pieces to be got out easily. At either end is
a larger hollow, to be used for captured pieces. The
game is for two players and the rules are as follows,
roughly:—
Each hole in the two rows is filled with five round
seeds about the size of a marble, known as mbuthi ;
should any seeds be missing, fewer seeds are put in the
last hole, which may, if necessary, be left empty, and
disregarded completely.
The players sit, one on each side, and each takes a
row of holes and the right-hand big receptacle. The
leader then takes up the five seeds in any hole and
drops them into the next two holes, three into one,
and two into the other; the second player does the
same. The object of the game is to accumulate the greatest number of seeds. The first player now takes
all the seeds in one hole and, working either to right
or left, puts one into each hole, starting with the one
next the starting-hole. He works to the end of the
row, and then along his opponent's ; when his handful
of seeds is finished, he takes up those in the hole to
which his last seed brought him, and with these he
works back along the way he has come. This continues
till the last seed in hand falls in an empty hole. He then
takes up the seeds in the hole opposite it and puts them
in his large receptacle; but he must “ fall ” or finish
on his own side or he wins nothing. His opponent
then tries to do the same. This continues till only a
few seeds are left, when each player may be forced to
waste several moves before he can score.
Should the seed “ fall ” in a hole which is the first
of a series of empty ones, all the seeds in the holes
opposite to the empty ones are captured. To score,
it is necessary to invade the opponent’s line and get
back again, at least once. One “ run ” may last for
several handfuls, and considerable foresight is required
to see where the seed will “ fall.” The winner is the
one who has accumulated most seeds." Orde Browne 1925" 125-128; board pictured on p. 168.
Confidence 100
Source Orde Browne, G. 1925. The Vanishing Tribes of Kenya. London: Seeley, Service & Co.
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