re clearly different from the visitations of spirits to
prospective shamans, which occurred repeatedly and were kept secret.
Dreamers, on the other hand, publicly reported individual dreams. Being a
dreamer appears to have been one of the important factors in attaining
positions of leadership, informal as such positions were among the Washo.
The almost legendary Captain Jim,(6) who was acknowledged as a leader by
all the Washo in the late nineteenth century, is considered to have been a
dreamer by many of the Washo. Those informants who remember the big times
at Double Springs Flat, in which a large number of the Washo of the day
participated prior to the pine-nut harvest, usually begin their accounts
with the statement that Jim would have a dream and announce the date of
the meeting. Various parts of the ceremony were also validated by dreams.
It is equally clear that although Jim was an honored leader and had
dreaming power he was not considered a doctor.

Negative testimony also indicates the importance of dreaming in Washo
life. It is to the advantage of certain individuals to deny the
"chieftainship" of Captain Jim; they vehemently deny that he was a dreamer
but insist that he was simply a good man who was trusted by the Washo.
"That Jim was just a good old guy that everybody obeyed because they liked
him and the whole group selected him. He wasn't no more of a dreamer than
I am," is the way one claimant for the Washo chieftainship put it.
However, his own claim was based on his relationship to a man who was a
rabbit boss and who dreamed when it was time to hunt rabbits.

Clearly the Washo believed and still believe that dreams make one privy to
the future and provide important insights on which one can base decisions.
The specific uses to which dreams can be put change with the situation.
Antelope dreaming is no longer important because there are no antelope.
Rabbit dreamers no longer exist because the rabbit drive has lost much of
its importance in Washo life. Conversely, dreams dealing with modern
problems appear to be taken seriously.

One informant often dreams of snakes and evidences a great fear of them.
The Washo view this behavior as a rational response to a real warning and
consider the man's caution as good judgment in the face of repeated
warnings.

RITUAL ACTIVITIES

Few, if any, Washo activities do not contain an element which we can
describe as religious, supernatural, or magical. This