he religion of the Washo has simply
altered and expanded to serve the Washo in new situations.

In this work I take the broadest possible definition of religion,
conceiving it as any institutionalized activity or attitude which reflects
the Washo view of the cosmos. In so doing I have included a number of
categories which may not generally be considered suitable for inclusion
under the heading of religion. Stewart, for instance, includes shamanism,
curing, special powers of shamans, miscellaneous shamanistic information,
guardian spirits, destiny of the soul, ghosts or soul, and jimsonweed. My
own work includes some of these specifically, incorporates some under
other headings, and treats a number of subjects not included in the list
given above.

The reason for this approach is practical rather than theoretical or
philosophical. As anthropological definitions of religions are extremely
varied and the activities described as religious under various definitions
cover a greater or narrower range, it seems valuable to include as many
activities as possible in a purely descriptive work.

The goal of this paper is to make as much information as possible about
the religious and ritual activities of the Washo available to scholars who
may be interested in religion. The inclusion of as many fields of activity
as possible permits them to select information which they feel pertinent
to their interests.

Wherever possible I have tried to include direct quotations from
informants as well as information about their behavior and attitudes, so
that my own interpretations and conclusions can be examined by others in
light of the information on which they are based.

Statements made by informants are indicated by quotation marks. I did not
have a recording device available and did not attempt to record entire
interviews verbatim. However, whenever informants indicated that they
considered their statements important I took them down word for word. If I
felt some passing remark to have significance, I asked the informant to
repeat it and often read it back to him for verification. Other stories,
particularly those of a mythological nature, or semilegends, or
experiences which were important to individual informants, were repeated
voluntarily on almost every occasion of our meeting. Whenever statements
are presented in quotation marks the material was gathered in this manner.

This paper contains material from a number of sources. Sta