Photo gallery Ojibwe Winter Games
![A collection of snow snakes sits waiting to be used at Ojibwe Winter Games, held on Lake Mendota at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Feb. 5, 2016. Events included snow snake, hoop and spear, and atlatl, where participants propel an arrow with a hooked handle.](https://news.wisc.edu/content/uploads/2016/02/Ojibwe_Games16_1456-1024x682.jpg)
Photo by: Bryce Richter
A collection of snow snakes sits waiting to be used at the Ojibwe Winter Games, held on Lake Mendota at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Feb. 5, 2016. The event celebrates and sustains traditional winter sports, and inspires children to get out and exercise during winter. This year, a group of folklore students in the UW Scandinavian Studies Program partnered with educators in Lac du Flambeau to bring the games to UW-Madison.![The games included snow snake, hoop and spear, and atlatl (shown), where participants use a hooked handle to propel an arrow faster and farther than could be thrown with bare hands. The object was to hit one of four hunting targets.](https://news.wisc.edu/content/uploads/2016/02/Ojibwe_Games16_2650-1024x682.jpg)
Photo by: Bryce Richter
The games included snow snake, hoop and spear, and atlatl (shown), where participants use a hooked handle to propel an arrow faster and farther than could be thrown with bare hands. The object was to hit one of four hunting targets.![Participants take part in an Ojibwa Winter Games event on a frozen Lake Mendota at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Feb. 5, 2016. The games included snow snake (shown), hoop and spear, and atlatl, where participants propel an arrow with a hooked handle. The Ojibwa Winter Games celebrate and sustain traditional winter sports, and inspire children to get out and exercise during winter. This year, a group of folklore students in the UW Scandinavian Studies Program partnered with educators in Lac du Flambeau to bring the games to UW-Madison. (Photo by Bryce Richter / UW-Madison)](https://news.wisc.edu/content/uploads/2016/02/Ojibwe_Games16_2301-1024x682.jpg)
Photo by: Bryce Richter
Snow snake's object was to toss a carved and painted wooden stick down a lane of ice that has had the snow cleared from it, trying to have the stick go as far and straight as possible.