and he thought it peculiar (Steward 1941:
218-220). This explanation compares favorably with the culture element
distribution lists presented by Stewart, which reported none of the traits
usually considered as part of the shaman complex in antelope hunting
common among Basin Shoshone and Paiute. (Stewart 1941; Steward 1941.)

_Rabbits_ (92-96).--The pursuit of the jack rabbit appears to have been
changing in its importance during the past century. Several informants
recall being told in their youth by old men that often only the hides were
stripped from rabbits to make blankets, but that most of the meat was
discarded because other game was plentiful. However, firearms and
agriculture soon put an end to antelope hunting, and the trans-Sierran
region, like most of the nation, suffered a steady decline in the number
of deer. All informants agree that in their own youth trips to California
after deer were necessary because there were almost no deer east of the
Sierra. All Indians agree that the deer population in Nevada today is far
greater than it was in the early years of this century. The decrease in
antelope and deer forced a greater dependence on the jack rabbit as a
source of food as well as fur. The communal nature of the rabbit hunt may
have made possible a gradual transference of ritual traits from the
antelope complex to the rabbit hunt.

Traditionally the Washo drove rabbits into nets, a method common in the
Basin. Stewart's notes, taken from informants in their seventies in 1936,
make no mention of any supernatural aspect of the rabbit drive. Evening
dancing during the rabbit drive was denied. There was, however, a special
leader who directed the hunt. In later times these men were credited with
dreaming power, as this quotation illustrates: "Jack Wallace would dream
where the rabbits were and when it was time for hunting he would send out
a call." The man mentioned was described as the last of the real dreamers.
This power made him extremely influential among the Washo, and his
descendants are considered among the claimants for the "chieftainship."
There appear to have been formalized prayers which were said before the
hunt by a man with power over rabbits.

Today, rabbit hunts are invariably held on Sunday. In the words of one
informant: "Nowadays anybody can just say 'Let's have a hunt this
Sunday.'(9) They have to hunt on Sunday because most of the men have jobs
during the week."

The disintegration of