Wovoka and the Ghost Dance (Expanded Edition) [Paperback]

Michael Hittman (Author), Don Lynch (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 1997

The religious fervor known as the Ghost Dance movement was precipitated by the prophecies and teachings of a northern Paiute Indian named Wovoka (Jack Wilson). During a solar eclipse on New Year’s Day, 1889, Wovoka experienced a revelation that promised harmony, rebirth, and freedom for Native Americans through the repeated performance of the traditional Ghost Dance. In 1890 his message spread rapidly among tribes, developing an intensity that alarmed the federal government and ended in tragedy at Wounded Knee.

 

While the Ghost Dance phenomenon is well known, never before has its founder received such full and authoritative treatment. Indispensable for understanding the prophet behind the messianic movement, Wovoka and the Ghost Dance addresses for the first time basic questions about his message and

 

This expanded edition includes a new chapter and appendices covering sources on Wovoka discovered since the first edition, as well as a supplemental bibliography.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Hittman is the author of Corbett Mack: The Life of a Northern Paiute (Nebraska 1996). He is chair of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus.

Product Details

• Paperback: 373 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press; Exp Sub edition (December 28, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803273088
• ISBN-13: 978-0803273085
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,258,996 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A scholarly survey., October 21, 2010

By 

Steve Bartholomew "Bart" (Lakeport, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Wovoka and the Ghost Dance (Expanded Edition) (Paperback)

A thorough and scholarly review of the subject, with many references and footnotes. This book is not written for popular consumption, but is essential reading for anyone interested in the life and times of Wovoka. Warning: Not easy reading.

3.0 out of 5 stars 'Informitive But A Labor To Read', October 4, 2010

By 

Steve Zubal "OXONOXO" (Pine Island FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wovoka and the Ghost Dance (Expanded Edition) (Paperback)

The author himself states that over half the material in this book is quoted from other sources, hence nearly every paragraph has note references' after one or more sentances. The notes and addtional information are over 100 pages. Once more specific information is repeated some times verbatim and/or more than once. To give an example: in one chapter he'll state a quote from some whitness statement, the next chapter he may repeat part of that statement, then in the back of the book in the additional sections the whitness statement appears in its entirety. The author offers no explination or opinion to the varying whitness accounts. He simply presents the infomation. For me this created more questions without even a sugestion of an answer. For instance: Who is Tom Mitchell? He's not mentioned until you read the whitness statements in the back of the book. There two seperate accounts are given claiming that Tom Mitchell was a contempary of Jack Wilson living in the same area proported to have equal or greater powers than Wilson. The two supposedly tried to join forces and Wovoka (Jack Wilson) was betrayed and killed by Mitchell. One of these accounts is from Mitchells' own grandaughter! Yet the author does'nt even mention Tom Mitchell! In my life I've whitnessed many close encounters (in the double digits) during one such encounter in June of 1991 I watched one of these objects for roughly 40 minutes, it displayed many things, I watched as it drew clouds toward itself and made fast moving clouds stop around it. At some point it emparted to me, directly to my brain, that it could effect the weather and that we could cumunicate while I'm in a dream state, for direct contact tends to overwealm a human beings ability to cope with such contact. There's much more to my story but I feel that a similar situation is at the root of "Weather Shamanism" in general and I'm searching for literature that coresponds to this theory and for all I read about Wovoka there seems to be one story he told to "Native Americans" and another story he told to everyone else.

4 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great, October 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Wovoka and the Ghost Dance (Expanded Edition) (Paperback)

attention mike hittman please contact david andrews northern nevada paiute for the next book of yours. he has alot of investigations of the recent leades of the northern nevada tribes. good reading and i will bet a best seller! contact kay fowler and the special collections unr