se power, are made of eagle feathers.
Other peyotists favor the less powerful but nonetheless potent magpie
feather (d'Azevedo and Merriam 1957).

Tobacco, as the foregoing accounts illustrate, played an important part in
Washo shamanism. It appears to have been used as an offering to the
spirits. In addition it is clear that it was felt to have special power of
its own. Today older men smoke sparingly and are often somewhat
embarrassed to be offered a cigarette casually during conversation. In
prewhite times the tobacco was a native variety gathered and dried by the
shaman. Today Bull Durham appears to have replaced the wild variety as
"Indian" tobacco. The Indians seemed delighted to see me rolling a
cigarette; they acted as if I were mastering what they felt was a
particularly Indian art. Bull Durham is also important in peyote
ceremonialism because it is "real Indian tobacco."

Incense cedar plays an important role in modern peyote meetings. It is
dried and thrown into the fire to create a fragment smoke which is
considered beneficial. Meeting officials fan it into the atmosphere and
"rub" themselves in the smoke to obtain power or purification. This has a
connection with traditional Washo ritual, but the relationship is unclear
and the aboriginal practices obscure. One group of Washo, which was
assigned a special place in the large camp circle formed during the
pine-nut dances held at Double Springs Flats in the late nineteenth
century, is said to have special rights in connection with cutting cedar.
Modern informants do not have a clear picture of what the rights were or
what the customs surrounding cedar were. One informant did say that if the
cedar "bunch" found anyone else with cedar they would say "you aren't
supposed to have that" and would make fun of them. She could offer no
further details or explanations.

Sorcery And Witchcraft (2562-2564)

There is no real distinction in the Washo mind between a doctor and a
sorcerer or witch. Particularly powerful doctors were able to kill their
enemies. One of the most feared bits of paraphernalia was an obsidian
point found by a doctor. These large points were not made by Washo and are
apparently remnants of some previous cultural occupation in the area. If a
Washo finds one point up he carefully knocks it over with a long stick
before touching it. These points are called mankillers, but I was unable
to learn exactly how they were used. They are still view