Wovoka biography definition

19th and 20th-century founder of the Ghost Dance movement (c.1856–1932)

This article is about the Northern Paiute religious leader. For the Redbone album and eponymous single, see Wovoka (album).

Wovoka (c. 1856 – September 20, 1932),^[2] also known as Jack Wilson, was the Paiute religious leader who founded a second episode of the Ghost Dance movement.

Wovoka means "cutter"^[3] or "wood cutter" in the Northern Paiute language.

Biography

Wovoka was born in the Smith Valley area southeast of Carson City, Nevada around 1856. Quoitze Ow was his birth name.^[4] Wovoka's father was Numu-tibo'o (sometimes called Tavibo), who for several decades was incorrectly believed to be Wodziwob, a religious leader who had founded the Ghost Dance of 1870.^[5] From the age of eight until almost thirty Wovoka often worked for David Wilson, a rancher in the Yerington, Nevada, area, and his wife Abigail, who gave him the name Jack Wilson when