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Wovoka, also known as Jack Wilson, was a Paiute leader who led the Ghost Dance movement. He was born in Smith Valley, southeast of Carson City, around 1856, with the birth name Quoitze Ow. He claimed to have had a prophetic vision during the solar eclipse of Jan. 1, 1889. The vision entailed the resurrection of the Paiute dead and the removal of whites from North America. Wovoka taught that to bring this vision to pass, Native Americans must live righteously and perform a traditional dance known as the Ghost Dance. His teachings spread across the country and led to U.S. government fear of a rebellion of Native Americans. This fear led to the massacre of an estimated 300 Lakota men, women and children at Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota. Wovoka died in Yerington on Sept. 20, 1932 and is buried in the Paiute Cemetery in Schurz. He fought for his people’s civil rights. The only violence that erupted from this effort to hold onto his people’s way of life was from the U.S. government. Wounded Knee was one of the crushing blows of a continent-wide genocide.
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c h o i c eRsS’ Best art class Laika Press 1717 S. Wells Ave.
There are paint-and-sip classes, which don’t require much planning—just show up, and the materials and ideas are already there for you. And there are collegelevel classes, which involve a high level of commitment, maybe to a whole degree program, or at least a 10week semester. Then there’s Laika Press, a printmaking studio that opened on Wells Avenue in 2017 under the steerage of University of
Nevada, Reno printmaking grad Nathaniel Benjamin. This small, storefront studio strikes a great balance between accessibility and professional-level skill development, offering mediumcommitment arrangements such as a six-session membership. Workshops in specific techniques include letterpress, relief printing and collograph.
Best nonprofit group The hoLLand ProjecT 140 Vesta St., 742-1858
To understand the Holland Project, and the love and devotion it inspires among many corners of our community, you’ve got to look back at life in Reno before Holland existed. For locals growing up here in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, there was often a
feeling of disconnection—as if there were amazing things happening out there in the wider world, but none of them ever reached Northern Nevada. Back then, the casinos had a stranglehold on local entertainment—and almost none of it was geared
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toward folks too young to gamble. For young people looking to get more out of life than roller skating rinks, blockbuster movies and high school football games, there was only one thing to do: Move away. So, they did. Fortunately, some of them came back. And they built the place they wished they’d had: a place where young people can experience first-rate concerts, workshops and gallery exhibitions—without having to drive three-and-ahalf hours to San Francisco.
ReadeRs’ choices Best 4th of July fireworks Lake Tahoe
Best alBum By a local Band hunk by eLephanT RifLe
Best animal shelter nevada humane SocieTy 2825 Longley Lane, 856-2000
Best art class picaSSo & Wine 148 Vassar St., 453-1168
Best art gallery nevada muSeum of aRT 160 W. Liberty St., 329-3333