The 1870 Ghost Dance

Part One: Nevada and the Klamath Drainage

5 The first part of this volume will discuss the genesis of the 1870 Ghost Dance among the Paviotso and its course along the Klamath drainage among tribes of southeastern Oregon and northernmost California. This region represents a self-contained area in respect to the Ghost Dance. The cult did not pass from the Klamath drainage into central California. Furthermore, this area is characterized by only a brief persistence of the doctrine. An exception must be made for the Shasta and Klamath, whose cultures were more disintegrated than those of other tribes in the region. The Shasta proved to be a corridor for the transmission of cult movements from the Sacramento Valley to coastal Oregon. Paviotso Information concerning the earlier Ghost Dance elicited from the Paviotso in the vicinity of Walker Lake, Reno, and Pyramid Lake was almost of necessity couched in terms of the 1890 Ghost Dance. This was due to the death of Jack Wilson in October 1932, only some ten days before field work was begun, and to the more vivid impression left by the later prophet. Whether or not informants were adherents of Jack Wilson, they were all agreed that his doctrine was neither new nor unique, but that it was simply one expression of a recurring native pattern. The impression was gotten that in almost every generation shamans arose who preached the imminent return of the dead and in addition were capable of performing miracles, among which weather control was a favorite. Actually, however, no specific biographical material antedating approximately 1870 was obtained . Dr. Willard Park, on the other hand, has gained the impression in the course of recent ethnographic field work among the Paviotso that the doctrine of the return of the dead in large numbers was new with the 1870 and the 1890 prophets. He believes that the old element in the area was the resurrection of particular individuals by certain rare and outstanding part one ° Nevada and the Klamath Drainage part one 6 shamans who had the power to bring back the souls of the dead as they lingered on the flowery path to the spirit land. Some shamans were able actually to enter the spirit land and return the soul to its body. Jack Wilson was the last of these powerful shamans. For a full description of this point of view, as well as for the general background of Paviotso shamanism against which the Ghost Dances should be discussed, we must await the full account of Park’s data.1 Informants made the following statements about shamans who had communicated with the dead before Jack Wilson’s time. [bind bob], of Smith Valley, south and west of Mason Valley, remembered a man, called Winawitu, who preached rejuvenation by dancing. He had been to the spirit land in the course of a four-hour trance and had seen spirits generally enjoying themselves. Winawitu preached amity toward the white people and pointed out the benefits which they had brought with them. He added to his powers of clairvoyance and prophecy those of curer and rain bringer. His doctrine and powers were said to be known to the Shoshoni, Bannock, Washo, and neighboring Paviotso, who attended the round dances at which he spoke. It is barely possible that Winawitu may be identified as Weneyuga (see below), or it is possible that he was simply an outstanding shaman with no truly adventist doctrine but only the power of communicating with the dead. [henry williams], of Walker Lake, said that prior to Jack Wilson (1870s?) he could barely remember a local prophet who preached a doctrine similar to Jack Wilson’s. His name was Wodziwob (Gray Hair); he predicted that the dead would return in three or four years and that everyone would be badly frightened when the event occurred. Large crowds, which included Washo and eastern Mono, assembled to hear him preach. Wodziwob had as an adherent and assistant in the Walker Lake region a man called Numataivo (Indian White Man), who was undoubtedly Jack Wilson’s father, and apparently the same person as the Tavivo mentioned by Mooney, who translated his name as White Man.2 It seems pertinent at this point to digress momentarily from informants’ statements to discuss Jack Wilson’s father, to whom the origin of the 1870 7 nevada and the klamath drainage Ghost Dance has been erroneously attributed. Mooney quotes Jack Wilson as saying...