By Beth Sluys
Northside News

On Feb. 26 Madison City Parks sponsored an event at Warner Park featuring the traditional Ho-Chunk winter game called snow snake, which can be played in teams or as individuals.

As we walked up to a long narrow span of a snowbank, the bright red numbers painted on the side stood out against the white snow. A bunch of long sticks poked out of a nearby snow pile, awaiting their fate. Masked people were gathered, standing by a fire pit to keep warm or standing in line to register to play the snow snake game. 

At the start of the event, Bill Quackenbush, tribal historic preservation officer for the Ho-Chunk Nation, explained that the game includes a long run built from snow with a narrow channel running down the center. Long sticks are tossed into the channel.

In a recent WORT radio station interview, Quackenbush explained that the game “goes back many generations” and has been “adapted and changed over time … likely originating from a spear tossing game.”

We watched as each participant chose a stick that was tossed into the channel, and the distance the “snake” traveled was measured and recorded. Each participant got two tries; the second toss often better than the first as people got the feel of how their stick moved through the snow channel. Once the final distances were determined, each of the age-group winners could pick out a prize provided by Madison Parks. 

It was a great way to get outdoors and enjoy learning about Ho-Chunk culture.