The 1870 Ghost Dance

Part Four: Big Head Cult

271 In part 2, which dealt with the Oregon material, informants stated that Bogus Tom and particularly Frank had promised them that a Big Head dance would be brought to them. In part 3, the section on Round Valley Reservation contained indications that a Big Head cult had passed through the area. In the following pages these strands and additional material will be drawn together into a description of a somewhat aberrant modern cult that seems to have been linked definitely to other religious developments in northern California, although its manifestations were quite distinct. Diagnostic of this cult1 was the sale of particular regalia from the Pomo northward. With the feathers went specific dances. In the following sections the progression of the cult from south to north will be described under tribal headings. Figure 21 diagrams this northward progression. Pomo Origin There is some uncertainty as to the particular group of Pomo who gave the movement its northern impetus. The Kato say that it reached them from Willits (Northern Pomo) through Sherwood (Northern Pomo). Kroeber says: The Ghost dance of 1872 came to the Huchnom [Redwood Valley Yuki] from the central Pomo of the coast, who in turn had it from the eastern Pomo. From Round Valley and vicinity it was carried north, according to modern survivors, to the Hayfork Wintu and Hupa. The latter statement is probably not to be taken in a literal geographical sense, but it corroborates the inference, already derived from the existence of circular dance houses among the Whilkut, that this distinctly northwestern group derived the type of structure through a northward extension of the ghost dance.2 part four ° Big Head Cult fig. 21. Route taken by Big Head cult. Triangles, sites of major dances. 273 big head cult Since the Big Head cult was the only modern movement that extended into this region, Kroeber must be referring specifically to it, although he uses the term “ghost dance.” His statement may be taken literally, at least in part. The movement did reach the Hayfork Wintu. There is no information , however, that it reached Hupa. Whether the circular dance house of the Whilkut is due to Earth Lodge or Big Head cult influence has not been ascertained by specific inquiry. The diffusion of the Big Head cult does not include the Whilkut, nor for that matter the Chilula, who also seem to have had two circular dance houses of southern type.3 In Kroeber’s account, the coast Central Pomo are named as the group that gave impetus to the transmission of what is now known to be the Big Head cult. Loeb definitely identifies Point Arena as the point of departure.4 He secured the information from a Wailaki, John Tip. In the following section on Round Valley and the Wailaki, further material by the same informant is given and evaluated. Inquiries at Point Arena on the subject not only drew forth a denial, but the informants seemed rather shocked at the idea of transmitting regalia in this fashion. One Northern Pomo informant, John Smith, knew vaguely of the movement and attributed it to Salvador of Kelsey Creek, who has been mentioned repeatedly as the messenger for the Earth Lodge gatherings. A second Northern Pomo made the following statement concerning the Big Head cult in Pomo territory: [nancy mccoy] “A Big Head dance was brought to Little Valley, a Northern Pomo rancheria about seven miles east of Fort Bragg, by some people from down south. My uncle Bill was chief at Little Valley. The people danced four nights with the Big Heads, and then they went back to their own place. Bill took the dance up north to the Sherwood people, and they took it to Laytonville [Kato].” There were men’s and women’s dance regalia. Men wore Big Heads of pincushion type, but with feathers lashed along the length of the upright wings. This headgear and the dance were called Kisu ke.“The real old-time Big Head was different. He was called Dasan.” The person or location responsible for creating the Big Head cult has not been satisfactorily established. The movement could not have been part four 274 of much importance in Pomo territory, since most informants were completely ignorant of the cult. This is in contrast to the northern tribes. Kato The Kato were intermediaries between the Northern Pomo, of Sherwood...