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'''Curley Headed Doctor''' ([[Modoc language|Modoc]]: ''Cho-ocks'', 1828 — 1890; also Curly-Headed Doctor) was the spiritual leader for the [[Modoc people|Modoc]] tribe, notably during the [[Modoc War]].
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==Background==
Curley Headed Doctor was Modoc from [[California]]. While initially a proponent of peaceful coexistence with the white settlers in the area, Curley Headed Doctor came to stand for Modoc independence as a means to preserve religious beliefs and traditions. He learned the [[Ghost Dance]] from a [[Northern Paiute|Paiute]] Indian.<ref name="thrapp">Thrapp, Dan L. ''Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography, Volume 1: A-F.'' Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1991.</ref>

In response to encroachment by American gold prospectors and ranchers, leaders of his tribe ceded their traditional homelands to settle on a reservation in [[Oregon]], jointly occupied by the [[Klamath people|Klamath]] and [[Yahooskin]] Band of [[Snake Indians]] in 1864. Reservation life was difficult for the Modoc, due to a neglectful and corrupt Indian agent and continual harassment by the Klamath. The leader of Curley Headed Doctor's band, known as the Hot Creeks, was [[Kintpuash|Captain Jack]]. Captain Jack led the band back to their ancestral homelands in California. The US Army responded violently.<ref name="mod">Scruggs, Patrica. [http://www.modoctribe.net/history.html The History of the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724034726/http://www.modoctribe.net/history.html |date=2008-07-24 }} 2009 (10 Feb 2009)</ref>

==Modoc Wars and removal==
During the [[Battle of Lost River]] on November 29, 1872, Curley Headed Doctor led dances to support Modoc warriors. Detractors of the medicine man accused him of having, "used magic and fanaticism to support the followers of Jack."<ref name="thrapp"/> Due to his involvement, Curley Headed Doctor was indicted by an [[Oregon]] grand jury but not tried.<ref name="thrapp"/>

He is credited with raising the fog in the area that protected the tribe during the [[First Battle of the Stronghold]] in January 1873,<ref>David, Eric. [http://www.techgnosis.com/chunkshow-single.php?chunk=chunkfrom-2008-09-25-1733-0.txt Captain Jack's Stronghold: Ghost Dancing.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090709065127/http://www.techgnosis.com/chunkshow-single.php?chunk=chunkfrom-2008-09-25-1733-0.txt |date=2009-07-09 }} 25 Sept 2008 (10 Feb 2009)</ref> and leading them in the Ghost Dance to protect and save them from extinction. He urged the assassination of the Peace Commissioners but did not physically harm them.<ref name="thrapp"/>

After the Modoc surrendered, he was spared by the [[US Government]] and deported to [[Indian Territory]] with the survivors of [[Kintpuash|Captain Jack]]'s band, who would become the [[Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma]]. Curley Headed Doctor died in [[Oklahoma]].

==Family==
His son-in-law was [[Hooker Jim]], a Modoc warrior who played a pivotal role in the Modoc War.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070102192131/http://www.nps.gov/archive/labe/content/HISTORY_War.htm The Modoc war: a Brief History], www.nps.gov, date unknown (accessed 2 February 2007)</ref><ref>[http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/labe/chap2.htm A very tired lot of soldiers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070207082354/http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/labe/chap2.htm |date=2007-02-07 }}, Modoc War, 1971, Argus Books (accessed 2 February 2007)</ref>

==References==
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[[Category:Modoc people]]
[[Category:People of the Modoc War]]
[[Category:Religious figures of the indigenous peoples of North America]]
[[Category:1828 births]]
[[Category:1890 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Native American people]]