The messenger stands at the eastern end of the mat facing the player who is to hide the disks.

Lots should be drawn to determine who of the six or eight players are to sit on the northern side and who on the southern side.

The player who is to do the hiding of the disks can be either selected or drawn by lot.

Whoever takes this part in the game should be capable of considerable dramatic action.

Among the Indians the person who does the hiding of the disks personifies one who practices magic; he makes passes over the disks and the cedar fiber under which the disks are hidden, makes signs and movements, and does what he can to throw a spell of confusion over those who are to guess where the "chief" is hidden.
When the players about the mat, the singers about the board drum and the messenger standing at the eastern end of the mat are all in readiness, the singers begin the following song, keeping time by beating with their drum-sticks on the board drum; the players about the mat join in the singing.
HIDING THE DISKS [Music] The player at the western end of the mat opens the bundle of excelsior or other material and spreads it on the mat and then puts all the nine disks under the material, making many movements as he does so, all of which must be in rhythm with the song, rolling the disks about under the material and finally dividing them into two parts, well covered up by the material.