Puhagimism

Puhagimism is the traditional shamanism of the Northern Paiute of the Great Basin. Its practitioner is the puhagim, a medicine man, and its central idea is puha, a power that gives life to the physical world and moves the elements, plants and animals alike.

To draw on this power the puhagim went to sacred places such as mountains, caves and waterways, where he cured the sick, made rain, and acted in war or sorcery. Illness was spiritual as well as bodily, and the shaman retrieved the soul of the sick, calling up power with a rattle, smoke and songs.

The creation tales were told by the elders around the winter fire. In one, the sagehen alone survives a flood and the Cannibal Nűműzóho then kills nearly all the people.