Wovoka, also called Jack Wilson (circa 1856-1932), Native American prophet, of the Paiute, born in what is now Mineral County, Nevada.

He worked for a rancher, whose surname he acquired.

About 1888 Wovoka suffered a fever accompanied by delirium; he claimed to have had a vision of God instructing him to teach his fellow Native Americans a certain dance ritual, which came to be known as the ghost dance. It was supposed to enable the Native Americans to recover their original land, to reunite them with their ancestors, and to make it possible for them to live in eternal peace and prosperity.

The Plains peoples soon regarded him as their messiah. By 1890 they performed the ghost dance nightly; it played a role in the arrest and slaying of the Sioux chief Sitting Bull on December 15 and in the massacre at Wounded Knee on December 29. Thereafter Wovoka's influence diminished.

"Wovoka," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2000 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.