A free celebration to honor Wovoka "The Ghost Dance Prophet," one of the most important Native American figures in Nevada history, will take place in Reno on Oct. 9. Wovoka, also known as Jack Wilson, was a Northern Paiute Indian born near Yerington, Nev. about 1856. It was Wovoka's spiritual vision and leadership that inspired the 1890 Ghost Dance in Nevada. In a short time this new Ghost Dance religion spread across the nation sparking a spiritual and cultural revival in many Native American Tribes.

Wovoka was one of the most important and influential leaders of the American West, according to biographer Dr. Michael Hittman, professor of anthropology at Long Island University, who will deliver the keynote address at the Oct. 9 celebration. In Wovoka and the Ghost Dance: A Sourcebook, Hittman writes, ""He was a weather prophet, rainmaker and medicine man...Wovoka gained his greatest renown as the messiah or prophet of the 1890 Ghost Dance." Drawing upon extensive sources, Hittman describes how Wovoka, from his home in Yerington, became the religious savior for literally thousands of Native Americans from the Pacific coast, across the Mountain States and the Dakotas and into Oklahoma.

The Dance religion began with Wovoka's Great Revelation. On New Year's Day 1889, Wovoka had a religious revelation wherein he "died" and went to heaven. God gave him a dance and a message of peace to share with all people. He was to stress brotherhood among all Indian people, and between the Indian and White. Wovoka proclaimed his stirring message and taught his people the Ghost Dance, a round dance that lasted for five nights. Men and women, their fingers intertwined, shuffled sideways around a fire, dancing to the songs that Wovoka led.

Wovoka's teachings spread like prairie fire first among the Bannocks, the Shoshones and then to the Great Plains Indians and many other tribes. By 1890 delegations from tribes of the Arapahoes and the Cheyennes on the east, and from as far as the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, were visiting him in Mason Valley, all seeking to learn about the new religion. The Ghost Dance was eagerly accepted by Indian tribes as a hope to bring back the old ways before they had been dispossessed of their lands and forced onto reservations. Right up to his death on Sept. 29, 1932 at his home in the Yerington Indian Colony, Wovoka received letters from Indians all around the country addressing him as "Father." Today, his legacy lives on with the Ghost Dance tradition still practiced by some native American tribes.

The Wovoka celebration on Oct. 9 will also feature a welcoming ceremony with a prayer by Wovoka's granddaughter, a first-ever public presentation by Wovoka's living relatives, who will share their personal memories of Wovoka, a dedication of the Nevada Historical Society's new exhibition that features all the known photos of Wovoka, Paiute storytelling, artwork and traditional food demonstrations. To conclude the celebration, members of the Yerington Paiute Tribe will lead the audience in the traditional round dance with its songs and music. Marlin Thompson of the Yerington Paiute Tribe will be Master of Ceremonies for the event.

The Wovoka celebration runs from 2-9 p.m. at Lawlor Events Center on the University of Nevada campus. It is sponsored by the Nevada Historical Society and the Yerington Paiute Tribe and is funded in part by a grant from the Charles H. Stout Foundation. There is no charge for admission. For more information please call the Nevada Historical Society at (775) 688-1190, Ext. 221. Persons who require special accommodations should notify the Nevada Historical Society offices by Oct.1.

Note: Marta Gonzalez-Collins and Lee Brumbaugh both work at the Nevada Historical Society. For more information on the cultural offerings of the Nevada Dept. of Museums, Library and Arts, please see dmla.clan.lib.nv.us or call 775.687.8323

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