The traditional K’uilichi ch’anakua game is from the Purépecha region in the state of Michoacán. The name has been translated from the Purépecha language as “game of the sticks that make a sound,” although the meaning of the word k’uilichi has been debated, it could be linked to how much a toss of five sticks counts, or to the manual gesture players make before they toss the sticks and, not really, to “sticks that make a sound.” This game is not just for entertainment, it also is a transference of values, knowledge and ways of living in community. The game is linked to festival days in the Angahuan community, in particular to the feast of the Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15), as well as to the feast of Saint James (July 25), when tournaments are held.
The game consists of simple rules that develop physical agility, coordination and strategy: each player/team has four chips they use to complete the circuit of 76 squares/points that make up the rectangular board. Four small wooden sticks—two smooth and two with diagonal slits—serve as dice and show how many squares to advance. When a chip falls on a square already taken by the opposing team, it gets “burnt” and must go back to the beginning and start over. The game is played with bets.
In addition to its playful nature, the K’uilichi ch’anakua game has an ancient historical depth which can be seen in the distinctive petroglyphs in the region. It is believed that in the past it may have served as a way to measure time, conceive space and for divinatory or propitiatory reasons related to controlling the weather or fate, as well as for fertility rituals. In this case, it has also been proposed that the board’s rectangular shape goes back to Mesoamerican cosmological geometry, where the cloud gods or Tirípemencha are in their four corners—in the four corner squares. To this effect, the chips represent the seeds that, when burned, can sprout and create life. In other words, they allude to vegetal renewal. In this case, when a chip is eliminated, “killed” by the opposing player, it goes back to the beginning, it is reborn, a cycle that harks back to mother goddess Cueráuaperi.