Wovoka

This is for anyone who watched the conclusion of "Into the West" this weekend and wants to know more about what was shown.

--ryan




WOVOKA: THE NUMU PROPHET


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Wovoka or Jack Wilson, was a spiritual leader whose influence  was so great that  many considered him  a prophet of our Great Father.

Wovoka was born in Smith Valley in 1856, the son of a medicine man named Numu-Taibo or "White Indian".  After  a  mystical  revelation  during a  trance that  oc curred during  an eclipse,  he was given power by  the Great  Father  to  control  the natural elements.  There were several instances when Wovoka demonstrated his power,  one of which occurred at a place called Circle in  Smith Valley.  Several men pitching hay for a local rancher saw him coming and began yelling and taunting  him, "There goes the rain maker. Make  it  rain."
Wovoka  made  the rain fall only on the spot where the men  were  haying.  He also caused it  to  rain  during droughts. Another demonstration of his power was when he caused ice to float down  the river during the summer.  Once  he  was  shot  by  a  fellow  hunter.
Everyone  gathered around him to see how badly he was hurt.  Wovoka  shook his clothes, the pellets fell to the ground. He had only red spots where the blast had hit him.


THE PROPHET'S REVELATION

He said that he had gone to heaven and saw all the people who had  died here on this earth,  and what a nice place it was,  the dancing and other sports,  etc.  He stared that the Creator had visited him many times since and told him what he should do.  He must tell the Indians no more quarreling,  live in peace with the  whites,  work  and  not lie or  steal,  that  they must put away  all  the  old practices of war. If they faithfully obeyed his instructions, they would at last be reunited  with their friends and families in this other world where there would be  no more death or sickness or old age.  He was then given the dance  called the ghost dance which he was commanded to bring back to his people. By performing  the circle dance at intervals for five consecutive days each time,  they would secure this happiness to themselves and hasten this event. He then began
to preach as he was directed, convincing the people by exercising the wonderful powers that had been given him.  Wovoka is accorded special attention  among Indian  and non-Indians alike because of the status he held as an  international as  well as local religious  prophet.  The moral code Wovoka transmitted to  his people  reached  far  beyond  the  confines  of  Mason  and  Smith  Valleys.

Representatives from more than 30 tribes came to visit him in Mason Valley in order to hear his words and see him demonstrate his powers.  We know of this movement as the 1890 Ghost Dance Religion. This religion spread throughout a large part of the United States and even into Canada.  Misinterpretations  of the teaching and dance appear to have been one of the factors in the Wounded Knee Massacre.  Wovoka is remembered as a curious mixture of the  ordinary and  extraordinary  among the Numu of the Yerington Paiute Tribe.  He is remembered by his people as a truly great man:  "To  him, the old people  were his  grandparents,  those his age were his brothers and sisters,  and the  young were  his  grandchildren....." This is what he  believed.  Jack  Wilson  died  on September 20, 1932.  The  cause of death was listed as  nephritis with  his  age approximated to be seventy-four. But his spirit lives on.


 
GHOST DANCE RELIGION

The  so-called  Ghost Dance Religion of  1890  was the result of many  factors. First  and  foremost  there was the charismatic  Jack Wilson.  Charged with a message from above. Wovoka preached the brotherhood of man and pacifisms. He emphasized such Protestant religious values as hard work and right  living. He instructed the Numu that he had returned to earth with a dance, the Numu Circle Dance, and that he had power over the elements (weather). Other Native Americans from all over the nation flocked to Wovoka's home in Smith Valley, to the dance grounds in  Smith  and  Mason  Valleys and  to the  Walker  River Reservation where the Ghost Dance was held. The message of Wovoka offered hope to those Native Americans disillusioned by the changes brought about by the  coming  of  the  White man.  The relationship between the  Ghost  Dance Religion  and the  infamous Wounded  Knee  Massacre of the Sioux in  South Dakota is one so complex and tragic that it is beyond the scope of this history. Let it suffice to be said that Wovoka, according to Mooney, insisted to his end that his religion was a peaceful one.


WOVOKA: NUMU PROPHET

On December 19, 1975, the Wovoka monument was placed at the Yerington Indian Colony. The following inscription appears on the marker:
 

"This  historical  marker was  erected by  the  Yerington  Paiute
Tribe  in  honor of  Wovoka or Jack Wilson,  a spiritual  leader
whose influence was so great that many considered him  a great
prophet of God".

Wovoka was born in Smith Valley in 1856, the son of a medicine
man named Numa-Taibo or "White Indian". Later he moved to
Yerington where he lived the last 20 years of his life.

After  a  mystical  revelation,  he  was given power by our  real
Father  to  control  the  natural  elements.  There  were  several
instances when Wovoka demonstrated his power, one of which
occurred at the place called Circle in Smith Valley. Several men
pitching  hay  for  a  local rancher saw him  coming  and  began
yelling "There goes the rain-maker". Wovoka made the rain fall
only  on the spot where the men were haying.  It rained so  hard
that no one could travel through. He also caused it to rain during
droughts. Wovoka was further instructed by our Great Father to
stress  brotherhood among  all  Indian peoples,  and between the
Indian and the White Man. Representatives from more than  30
tribes  came to visit him in  Mason Valley in order,  to  hear  his
words and see him demonstrate his powers. We know of this as
The 1890 Ghost Dance Religion. This religion spread throughout
a large part of the United States and even into Canada.

Wovoka is remembered by his people as a truly great man:  "To
him, the old people were his grandparents, those his age were his
brothers and sisters, and the young were his grandchildren....."