There were no doctors with rainmaking power among the Washo. However,
anyone, particularly a man deemed to be a leader, might encourage rain
during the summer. The rite, which is still observed occasionally by
individuals, consists of soaking a pine-nut cone in water and placing it
on the ground in the pine-nut hills. Modern Washo look upon this more as a
prayer, but in the past it may have been considered as a spell.
The ancient matriarch Suzie Dick steadfastly insists that less rain falls
in the Carson 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.