Pomo Dreamer

About the Book

Essie Parrish was the spiritual leader and healer for the Pomo tribe at the Kashia rancheria for many decades ending with her death in 1979. Photographer and filmmaker William R. Heick documented Native American culture, including Pomo ceremonies by Essie Parrish, under the direction of Dr. Samuel Barrett and the American Indian Project, at U.C. Berkeley in the early 1960s. Heick was a humble pioneer whose sensitive films captured Native American cultures with an ethnographic depth that eluded traditional anthropologists. By innovating the uninterrupted continuous shot, he allowed his subjects to speak for themselves, which was a groundbreaking approach at the time. Many of Heick’s photos from his U.C. Berkeley project are presented in this book—along with photos from his son, Bill Heick Jr. Anthropologist Otis Parrish, Essie’s son and tribal elder, comments on the photos, revealing insights into Pomo life and ceremonies in the twentieth century.

About the Author

William R. Heick, a photographer, documented Native American culture, including the photos in this book of Essie Parrish, who championed Native American traditions as a Kashia Pomo spiritual leader and renowned basket weaver. Bill Heick Jr., the son of William R. Heick, includes his own photographs in this book as well in memory of his father and to celebrate Essie Parrish and her family. Otis Parrish is Essie Parrish’s son, as well as an anthropologist and tribal elder. Otis Parrish, Pomo elder and anthropologist, 2023.