The Bone Game

Slahal, or the Bone game is a Coast Salish sleight of hand game. There are two 'bones' one marked with a red stripe. A player on one team take turns passing the bones between hands, and the other team's player must choose the hand that does not have the red striped bone. 

The game is also called the bloodless war game.

Why would a culture use a game of open deception as such an important practice that it would earn such a name? 

Why would sleight of hand be so central in a culture's games?

I submit that this game is useful to the culture because it teaches critical thinking. It teaches awareness of deception, and it makes deception an open element thus making deceivers less able to hide unseen in the group.

The game also implicitly shows that diplomacy is deceptive and that there are things the other group is trying to conceal. In an abusive family, the family knows that talking about the abuse is taboo, and so the abuse becomes immortal. The bone game plays openly with the problem of deception and so removes the taboo and at the same time steals it's power by making light of it through the game.

The game serves as a practice for catching cheats and tricksters and watching for dirty tricks from opponents. The game trains the eye against theft and the mind against misdirection.

This idea of training through play and through games is widespread amongst tribal and traditional cultures. The Rarámuri of New Mexico train the  legendary distance running prowess with a long distance game a little like soccer using a hard wooden ball. In this way child practice a trademark and life essential skill of the tribe by playing and having fun. In such interesting and inclusive way, even skills long considered tedious or boring are learnable without pain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slahal