n Valley than in neighboring valleys because "nobody is
talking to God anymore around here." While she talked she pointed to the
clouds hanging over Washo and Antelope valleys and to the cloudless sky
overhead.

Older white residents speak of Indian rainmakers, which is a source of
much amusement among the Washo. Until a few years ago an Indian, who still
lives in Dresslerville, used to take advantage of the gullibility or
generosity of white ranchers by performing "rain dances" on their property
in return for handouts of food. The Washo generally frowned on this, but
because white men were the victims of the fraud it was considered
harmless.

The father of the false rainmaker was a diviner of stolen articles. His
method was to sit and smoke until the location of the desired article was
revealed to him.

Objects Of Power

Eagle and magpie feathers were considered to be the most powerful items of
a shaman's paraphernalia. Doctors are reported to have captured eagles and
even to have tried to raise them to obtain feathers (223-231) The tail
feathers were the most prized. Eagle feathers were extremely valuable and
could be traded for anything including "a woman or a sack of pine-nut
flour or anything worth a lot." Ideally the eagle was tied up until the
shaman removed three tail feathers. The doctor then tied a string of beads
to the bird's leg and released it as a messenger to the spirits.
Description of eagle-down costumes suggest that birds were stripped of
many more feathers than the ideal three. In historic times individuals
have attempted to contain eagles. One old man in Woodfords is well known
for having kept them on cradle-boards for easy transport, but such
experiments usually ended in failure. Magpie feathers were considered less
powerful than eagle feathers but still were highly prized. Today they are
gathered by chance--taken from dead birds on the highway or picked up where
they were shed.

In the past, eagle and magpie feathers were important parts of the dress
of warriors. Magpie feathers were used to make a feather cap with a single
feather suspended from the top. Informants recall their elders' describing
eagle feathers' being suspended individually from the upper arms and
thighs of particularly powerful warriors.

Modern peyotists have lost none of the traditional Washo feeling about
these feathers. The ceremonial fans of road chiefs, believed the only
persons capable of handling the immen