Games are defined competitive activities with agreed upon rules that organize play and provide criteria for determining winners and losers. (Robert et al.
1959). In different part of the world apparent similarities in games have been found. E. B Tylor felt that games might provide clues to early culture contacts. In his text Anthropology (1881), he also indicates that some children’s game model adult activities and suggests toys and game implements may function both for play and for education.
On the other hand Culin sought to show that games are an integral and important part of human culture.According to Robert,Arth, and Bush the typology of games include; games of physical skill, strategy and chance. Many games are viewed, interpreted and participated in differently by children, adolescents, and adults, as well as by males and females. During 20th century, most of the researchers stayed at certain society for a long time to observe the behaviors of natives and their indigenous games.
Ethnic sports or indigenous games began to study properly from the perspectives of functionalism and social structural theory model by following the methods of B. K Malinowski and A. R Radcliffe-Brown.Games are universally or nearly universal in human cultures. Games particularly give us an idea of the salient activities and beliefs of that culture. Indigenous games also provide importance for socialization and enculturation.
At the individual level, the degrees of involvement, choices of games, and meanings attached to them may differ, depending on the ages, gender roles, level of expertise, and personal idiosyncrasies of the participants. The types of games according to Diana Oblinger are: (Oblinger, 2006) • adventure games, where the player moves through a virtual world, • puzzle games, such as cards, role-playing games, where the player assumes the role of a person or creature, such as Dungeons and Dragons, • strategy games, such as The Sims, where a player’s strategy drives the game, • sports games, such as golf or football. Characteristics of learning Game: Malone and Lepper (1987) provide valuable guidance with their list of key characteristics of a learning game: (Schaller,n. d)The valuable guidance and key characteristics of learning game are as follows: a) Challenge is created by having clear, fixed goals that are relevant for the learner.
Uncertain outcomes provide challenge by offering variable difficulty levels, hidden information, and randomness. Feedback on performance should be frequent, unambiguous, and supportive. Lastly, the activity should promote feelings of competence for the person involved. b) Curiosity exists in two different forms: sensory curiosity and cognitive curiosity. Audio and visual effects, particularly, in computer games may enhance sensory curiosity.
When learners are surprised or intrigued by paradoxes, or incompleteness, it arouses cognitive curiosity. ) Control is experienced as feelings of self-determination and control on the part of the learner. The ingredients of contingency, choice, and power contribute to the control feature of the learning experience. When the individuals face choices that produce powerful effect, it increases their sense of personal control.
d) Fantasy encompasses both the emotions and thinking process of the learner. Fantasies should appeal not only to the emotional needs of learners, but should provide relevant metaphors or analogies.Lastly, fantasies should have an integral relationship to the material covered. (Dodge 2000). Initiative Games Initiative games and cooperative games are different from most games that are familiar to us. What is different is the way we play them.
These games require lots of strategy and skill. Everyone has fun, and in that sense, everyone wins. Initiative games are purposeful activities with specific goals and learning processes that are less competitive and fewer rules oriented. They can best be described as “action-and-reflection” experiences. These games 1.Have a specific objective or objectives, such as cooperation, trust, or imagination, through physical and verbal group activity 2.
Are problem solving in nature 3. Must be talked about or reflected upon in order to have the maximum impact on the participants 4. Are fun The Concept of Ethnic Sport Ethnic sport is a general concept for those sports that are traditional, cultural or contribute to represent the specific cultural identity of the people living within specific countries, societies, ethnic groups and areas that perform them. (Sogawa,n.
d)Terms for Ethnic Sport When referring to such ethnic sports separately, there has been a tendency to use the native names of the respective sports, as in the cases of Tika, Holnussen, and Silat. Even in non-Western societies, in those countries which have been modernized by the West and have established themselves as nation states, such adjectives as, traditional, have been used when describing their own sports, just as in the case of Germany mentioned above. For example, a book edited by the Sport Authority of India in 1987 was entitled "Indigenous games and martial arts of India. Sogawa,n. d) Viewing an ethnic sport as a manifestation of the invisible culture in the society being examined, some adopted the symbolic theory model to describe culture impressed in ethnic sport. In recent years, attention has been paid to a theoretical model, the anthropology of tourism.
Anthropologists used to be frustrated seeing the traditional culture of their surveyed societies changing and disappearing as the society became modernized. At first, they tended to feel that it would be their mission to document such culture before it disappeared completely.However, they gradually began to pay attention to the process of the local people consciously acculturating their traditional culture into a modernized one. Of a variety of such acculturation, the most influential is the tourism, whose significance has been highlighted in recent years to the extent of producing a theoretic model for the anthropology of tourism. (Sogawa,n. d) Furthermore, relationships between ethnic sports and international sports have begun to be studied.
As ethnic sports become international sports, problems can occur, as seen in the issue of Judo uniform color. In Judo as a Japanese thnic sport, the uniform color is white, which is supposed to represent the spiritual aspect of training for self-discipline, not mere competition with others. In Judo as an international sport, however, this spiritual aspect is no longer regarded as relevant. For the convenience of spectators, the International Judo Federation has regulated that one player must wear a blue uniform and the other white. When an ethnic sport becomes an international sport, native culture, which had been inseparable from the sport, tends to be washed off. This phenomenon can be called culture laundering.
An ethnic sport which has become international through culture laundering, therefore, can be viewed as no longer being the same as the sport created by an original ethnic group. (Sogawa) Historically, North American indigenous tribes were independent societies, each with their own long-standing forms of culture and social organization. In these traditional settings, sports and games occupied a central role in indigenous cultural life. The most popular activities included various forms of hand, stick and ball games, which embodied a number of different meanings depending on their usage.Often they were multi-purpose activities, utilized for their ability to facilitate the integration of members into society, promote personal growth and community cohesion, transmit historical knowledge and social mores and teach the necessary skills for survival in a subsistence lifestyle and for warfare. (Forsyth & Wamsley, 2006).
Dying Children’s Indigenous Games: One of the most vital ways to uphold the culture it is very important to pass on the traditions and beliefs of that culture to the children. Because these children are the one who are inheritors and transmitters of cultural practices. Prakesh & Haripriya). Indigenous games are the one that are preserved and passed on from one generation to the other amongst a particular culture. Indigenous games are the treasure of such games that carry rhymes accompanying the games. These games carry symbolic messages and contribute in socialization.
Games communicate localized ethnic and socio-cultural identity of earlier times. (Prakesh & Haripriya). Childhood is the time full of joy and happiness. Children try to have fun through playing games.
Nowadays, we seldom see children playing any cultural or traditional game.In childhood memories, we used to play games, which were indoor and outdoor too. They contain many rhymes and represented many folk stories. However, it has been in this era that children do play the games but they have different kinds. They are technical, electrical, automatic or audio visual or tactual.
The reasons for the fast disappearing of these cultural games may vary ranging from educational system pattern, security issues, time management issues, change in family pattern, and family burden and communication gap in the family due to rich advancement in technology.Indigenous games are disappearing or dying out due to change in educational pattern or adaptation to the modern education system. Boom towards a competitive education in schools and preparation for the rigorous admission process has geared up from teaching those games and replaced by teaching them essentials for entry into schools leading to de-culturation. One a child is initiated into a school.
The study pattern is too tough and difficult that all the education system revolve around academic curriculum.In this way child is burdened with homework and assignments and he left with little or no time for the playing games. Security issues are the other main factor affecting the children indigenous games. Due to child trafficking and rape cases, parents want their children to play in the vicinity where they could be observed.
Due to global warming and population density places are shrinking, house structures are changing, play grounds are less seen in houses as coming architect of houses are modern and small for nuclear families.So most of the children adapt those games, which suits them in that area. Nuclear family structure is another issue for the dying culture of indigenous games. Number of children of decreased due to modernization and dearness.
Therefore, it is very difficult for children to accompany more friends or peers in their playing games. Thus, they play alone and adapt video games or technological games. Media has exposed new different games, which fascinates children more than the cultural games.Thus cultural games seems bore to children and they transform themselves into new graphics games. Then it depends on the nature of game which child is playing. Sometimes these graphical games are violent and abusive.
Sometimes they may be creative and learning base. However, one thing which has to be noted; these games develop communication gap in family members and no such physical activity is involve in those games. Traditional games provide opportunity to learn and experience aspects of culture.They provide opportunity to communicate, learn how to behave and provide communication aspect while playing; as members are communicating face to face to each other. Games are of different types: indoor, outdoor, with and without rhymes associated with the game. Each game has prescribed number of players, norms and timing of play.
soem games required physical activity. Traditional games offer benefits which include exercises, physical skills and activities, it improves physical coordination, enhances knowledge, I. Q, listening and observation skills.
