Wovoka
Wovoka (probably 'the one who cuts', also called Wevokar, Cowejo, Wopokahte, Kwohitsauq, Quoitze, Jackson Wilson, John Johnson or Jack Wilson ; * around 1856 ; † September 20, 1932 in Walker Valley , Nevada , USA ) was an influential prophet the Paviotso - Paiute - Indians .
Wovoka was the son of a Paiute medicine man named Tävibo. In his youth he worked with a Wilson family in his home valley and learned English.
In his mid-30s, Wovoka was considered an Indian messiah, or at least a prophet, who taught a dance that became known as the ghost dance .
During the solar eclipse on January 1, 1889, he is said to have had a vision of a new world. In it he experienced a vision of the Christian God, who gave him the message that the red man, if he behaves peacefully towards the white intruders, will see the kingdom of God. In addition, he was ordered to do the ghost dance, which would lead the Indians into a new age. In some stories he is even said to have the stigmata (the wounds of Christ). The religion, new to the Indians, spread quickly.
A Sioux shaman named Kicking Bear ( Minneconjou ), however, interpreted the dance as completely different as the “new” religion. He spread that when this new world came, great natural disasters would wipe out the whites and that only the dancing Indians would be spared. After that, the Indians should be the only survivors to be able to return to their traditional way of life. Kicking Bear went on to explain that a special robe with powerful symbols would make the dancers inviolable.
The Sioux chief Sitting Bull promoted the ghost dance among his people, but was aware of the possible difficulties these dances could cause among the white soldiers when many Indians came together. An intervention by the US Army in response to the dances led to Sitting Bull's death in 1890 and soon afterwards sparked the Wounded Knee massacre .
literature
- John Whalen: The Big Book Of The Weird Wild West ; Paradox Press 1998, ISBN 1-56389-361-4
- Michael Hittman: Wovoka and the Ghost Dance ; Bison Books, 1998, ISBN 0-8032-7308-8
- Dee Brown : Bury my heart at the bend of the river ; German edition, Hamburg 1972.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wovoka |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Prophet of the Paviotso Paiute Indians |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1856 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Walker Valley |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 20, 1932 |
| Place of death | Walker Valley |