Wovoka: Paiute Medicine Man, Mystic

Wovoka was a Native American religious leader and Paiute mystic and medicine man who lived from the mid to late 1850s until 1932. Wovoka was the founder of the Ghost Dance religion, which he created in the late 1880's. Wovoka, whose name means "The Woodcutter," was raised by a nearby caucasian rancher named David Wilson, after his father died when he was 14 (Mongoose). During this time, Wovoka took on the name Jack Wilson, which he was also well known as among white people and Native Americans (Mongoose). Wovoka worked on Wilson's ranch into adulthood and during his time with Wilson, he learned how to speak the English language and was said to have had significant contact with Christianity (Mongoose).

Tavibo, who is believed to be Wovoka's father, was a well known leader in his area as well as a Paiute shaman and medicine man ("Wovoka" and "Wovoka Biography"). Tavibo had a part in the Round Dance movement, which was perhaps a precursor to Wovoka's Ghost Dance movement and religion. Tavibo lead his followers to take part in the singing of religious songs and while dancing in circles, a movement which spread to parts of Nevada, Oregon, and California (Mongoose).

It is believed that while Wovoka was ill with a fever and cutting some wood on January 1, 1889, he had a revelation in which he was instructed by God to dance the Round Dance (Hoxie). Speaking about the vision he experienced during the full eclipse on that New Year's Day, Wovoka said, "When the Sun died, I went up to Heaven and saw God and all the people who had died a long time ago. God told me to come back and tell my people they must be good and love one another, and not to fight, or steal or lie. He gave me this dance to give to my people" (Toledo). Plains Indians applied the term "Ghost Dance" to Wovoka's new religion, while Paiute continued to refer to it as "Round Dance" (Hoxie). Wovoka's vision, similar to Tavibo's before his, included the vanishing of the white people and a free land for the Native Americans (Mongoose). Wovoka's own prophecies spread quickly to other tribes as his following increased, and he was even worshiped as a new messiah, yet at times, his peaceful message become misconstrued ("Wovoka").

According to Robert A. Toledo, Kicking Bear and Short Bull, members of a Lakota reservation "became enraptured by Wovoka's faith and even stated that Wovoka levitated through the air above them." Kicking Bear and Short Bull then took the Ghost Dance with them to their reservation, which then was misinterpreted and took on a militaristic manner. The result of this was the Wounded Knee Massacre in which United State troops took the lives of approximately 200 Sioux people ("Wovoka").

As the news spread to the many native people who followed the Ghost Dance movement, many of Wovoka's followers began to lose faith in their spiritual leader and his prophecies, and thus the Ghost Dance religion seemingly vanished for the most part (Toledo). Wovoka, who's faith was intertwined with both Native beliefs as well as Christian beliefs, left a legacy overshadowed by the pain his people experienced due in some way to the spread of his spiritual messages (Toledo).