Wovoka and the Ghost Dance

 

   One of the most fascinating figures in Nevada history was a Paiute man, who was born and grew up near Yerington, who was known as Wovoka (or by his white name, Jack Wilson). Newspapers of the time also referred to him as the “Indian Messiah.”

   Wovoka became widely known in the late 1880s and early 1890s, after he reported having a divine experience while cutting trees in the nearby Pine Nut Mountains. He said he heard a loud noise, went to see the source, and was suddenly struck by some kind of energy.

   As he lay on the ground unable to move, he later said he had an out-of-body experience that took him to a beautiful place that he knew was heaven. He said he spoke to God, who told him to instruct the Native American people to be good to others, stop stealing and to try to get along with the whites.

   The deity apparently also told him to spread the word about his teachings and tell the native people to perform what Wovoka called the Ghost Dance. In return, they would be reunited with their deceased loved ones, remain forever young and would be freed from sickness and death.

   Additionally, he preached that by performing the dance all of the white people would soon leave native lands.

   Within a short time, word of Wovoka’s teachings began to rapidly spread among the native people throughout the country.

   According to historian David Thompson, who has written about the Ghost Dance movement, the teachings were “eagerly accepted by a people who had recently suffered ruinous cultural problems—military defeats, the destruction of buffalo, confinement on Indian reservations, and epidemics of strange and frequently fatal diseases.”

   Wovoka chose to remain in the Schurz/Walker Lake area where he shared his teachings with all who came to learn about the Ghost Dance. Soon, representatives from more than a dozen Native American tribes traveled to Nevada to meet Wovoka and hear his words.

   Among those who journeyed in 1889 to meet Wovoka was Porcupine, a Cheyenne Chief and Medicine Man. After the meeting, Porcupine became convinced Wovoka was the messiah who would help save the tribes and remove white people from North America.

   He returned to the Cheyenne people and began baptizing converts into the new religion.

   On July 18, 1890, the San Francisco Chronicle reprinted a Yakima Herald story that called Porcupine the “Apostle” of the new Messiah. The story recounted how Porcupine, who had earlier been arrested, met with military officials who wanted a better understanding of the new religion.

   “The chief rose, and stretching forth his hands, prayed in silence for nearly five minutes. He placed his hands on the top of his head and on his stomach, and his chest rose and fell with deep sighs. Suddenly his face lit up and he seemed filled with a holy spirit,” the newspaper said.

   “He claimed Christ was on earth and in the flesh at Walker Lake, Nev., and that he had seen him and talked with him face to face, and that Christ had sent him abroad to preach his gospel to all who would hear.”

   While Wovoka’s (and Porcupine’s) teachings were heavily influenced by Christianity and were peaceful in intent, they took on new and different meanings when they spread to other tribes. Other so-called “messiahs” began cropping up on reservations around the country—some not even Native American.

   “The police have arrested the Indian Messiah. He was found in Red Cloud’s camp,” noted the Topeka State Journal on December 23, 1890. “When they pulled the white blanket off they found an intelligent but harmless crank, A.C. Hopkins by name, from Ashaqua, Iowa.”

   A stack of headlines above the story said, “The Messiah a White Man Named Hopkins. He Turns Out to Be a Crank From Iowa. He Says the Indians Misinterpreted His Message.”

   When the teachings reached the Sioux people, they resulted in a series of unfortunate and tragic events. Military officials and other white leaders were alarmed when the Sioux practiced the Ghost Dance, which often involved frenzied dancing.

   Some whites believed the dancing was a prelude to hostilities and urged authorities to ban the practice. This misunderstanding ultimately led to the horrific massacre at Wounded Knee, when some 300 Native American men, women and children were murdered by panicked U.S. Army soldiers. Among those killed was the famed Hunkpapa Lakota Chief, Sitting Bull.

   The events at Wounded Knee largely ended the Ghost Dance movement, as U.S. authorities made it illegal for native people to perform the dance.

   Wovoka, who had always preached a message of peaceful co-existence, however, remained an important religious figure in Nevada until his death in 1932. He is buried in the Schurz Cemetery, located about 24 miles east of his hometown of Yerington.

   A good source of information about Wovoka and the Ghost Dance movement is Michael Hittman’s book, “Wovoka and the Ghost Dance,” published by Bison Books.