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Northern Paiute shamanism revisited

Anthropos74 (1/2)Published In 1979 • Pages: 11-24

By: Olofson, Harold.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This work, is based on research done over a period of eight weeks on the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation at Nixon, Nevada, in the summer of 1965. The data collected were elicited primarily from one major informant, William Paddy, a native of Duck Valley Indian Reservation in Idaho. This paper is offered not as a criticism of earlier works on shamanism by Lowie, Kelly, Steward, and Park, but as an addition to it. This document describes …'the two concepts of 'power', the prevalence of power and 'power specialties', the thwarting of the shamanic call, the use of the eagle feather in the pillowcase to prompt and test power dreams, the power quest (as seen in myth), 'obedience' or 'empathy tasks' in curing sessions, the importance of the interpreter, varying techniques of curing (with emphasis on the work of the Pyramid Lake shaman Bobby Dodd), and current religious eclecticism ( p.23).
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Shamans and psychotherapists
Revelation and divination
Spirits and gods
Sacred objects and places
Magical and mental therapy
Acculturation and culture contact
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Northern Paiute
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2012
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Southwest and Basin
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
article
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle; 2011
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1965
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1965
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation, Nixon, Nevada, United States
NotesAdditional notes
Harold Olofson
Includes bibliographical references (p. 23-24)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
07021775
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Paiute Indians