Only one Washo disputed this story. She, a very progressive old woman and sometime Christian, attributed the deaths to an epidemic and “didn’t think” the doctor was responsible. Witchcraft and sorcery among the present-day Washo is a difficult subject to investigate. Even among themselves it is treated with extreme indirection and veiled hints. In discussing the problem with d’Azevedo I found that we were in agreement that a number of killings reported among these people could probably be attributed to revenge for, or prevention of, antisocial use of power. One woman, now dead, was described as probably a witch. The wife of the diviner mentioned earlier was considered a powerful and dangerous woman. She was useful to the community because she knew prayers and songs for the pine-nut celebration, but dangerous, particularly if she met you at night. One informant describes the attitude of the rest of the community toward her. “She used to come around at night and knock on your door and say she was lost. She came here one night and pounded on the door with her cane but we wouldn’t let her in. After she went away my husband rolled up a newspaper and set it on fire and ran it along the inside of the door where she had knocked. I don’t know why he did that except we was afraid of her.” Stewart also reports this attitude toward the same woman (1941, p. 444; 2562). The woman who told me this story is herself under the shadow of indictment for witchcraft. Curiously enough the same phrase, “I am afraid of her,” serves as an accusation. She and her sister-in-law quarreled over the disposal of her husband’s body two years ago. Since that time they have not spoken, and the sister-in-law has been proclaiming her fear. War Power The Washo have not engaged in real hostilities with the Miwok or Maidu for well over a century and Paiute hostilities appear to have taken the form of occasional defensive skirmishes; thus the details of war magic are vague. However, Washo tradition repeatedly mentions a month-long period during which doctors gathered and made medicine against the enemy before launching a campaign. Usually this took place at Woodfords, which was the site of a large earth lodge dance house copied after Miwok structures and described as “where the young mens learned them Miwok dances.” (A second dance house is known to have existed in Sierra Valley; attributed to the Maidu, it fell into disuse after the death of its owner.) Summary Of Shamanism