17 Facts About Wovoka

Wovoka means "cutter" or "wood cutter" in the Northern Paiute language.

Wovoka was born in the Smith Valley area southeast of Carson City, Nevada around 1856.

Wovoka's father was Numu-tibo'o, who for several decades was incorrectly believed to be Wodziwob, a religious leader who had founded the Ghost Dance of 1870.

David Wilson was a devout Christian, and Wovoka learned Christian theology and Bible stories while living with him.

Wovoka was said to have caused a block of ice to fall out of the sky on a summer day, to be able to end drought with rain or snow, to light his pipe with the sun, and to form icicles in his hands.

Wovoka claimed to have had a prophetic vision after falling into a coma during the solar eclipse of January 1,1889.

Wovoka's vision entailed the resurrection of the Paiute dead, and the removal of whites and their works from North America.

Wovoka taught that to bring this vision to pass, the Native Americans must live righteously and perform a traditional round dance known as the Ghost Dance.

Wovoka made references to the reunion of the living and the dead, and advocated for non-violence in the Christian spirit of pacifism and fair temperament.

Anthropologists, historians, and theologians provide conflicting accounts of when and how Wovoka had his vision.

One scholar of religions, Tom Thatcher, cites James Mooney's Smithsonian-sponsored anthropological report to claim that Wovoka received his first vision while chopping wood for David Wilson in 1887.

Wovoka never left his home in Nevada to become an active participant in the dance's dissemination in the US interior.

Wovoka was disheartened by how events unfolded at the massacre.

Wovoka remained a prominent Native American leader until his death.

Curious to see if the former Native American messiah had any ties to the Native American Church, Dorrington found that Wovoka was instead living a humble life in Mason, Nevada.

Wovoka abstained from the practice, worked as an occasional medicine man, and traveled to events on reservations across the United States.

Wovoka died in Yerington on September 20,1932, and is interred in the Paiute Cemetery in the town of Schurz, Nevada.