Indian Shaker Church
Encyclopedia
The Indian Shaker Church is a Christian
denomination
founded in 1881 by Squaxin
logger John Slocum
in Washington. The Indian Shaker Church is a unique blend of American Indian
, Catholic
, and Protestant beliefs and practices.
The Indian Shakers are unrelated to the Shakers
of New England (United Society of Believers) and are not to be confused with the Native American Church
.
reporting a visit to heaven and instructions to start a new religion. When Slocum became ill again several months later, his wife, Mary, began to shake and tremble uncontrollably in prayer. Soon afterward, Slocum recovered. The religion is thus named for the shaking of members during religious congregations. The shaking is reported to have healing powers.
The story is told that Mary had sent for a casket. John was dead. The casket was brought by canoe, down the river. The casket was just coming around the bend in the river when John revived....and told the people he had met Jesus and what they were to do.
Indian Shakers originally rejected the Bible
and all other written scriptures and instead relied on direct communication between God and the individual. Such Shakers believe that the experience of the Gospel does not require a book, but rather is encoded in the mind and soul in accordance with the will of God. The religion began to be practiced by many unrelated peoples along the Northwest Coast of North America, such as the Klallam
, Quinault
, Lower Chehalis, Yakama
, Hoh
, Quileute, and Hupa
, among others.
Practices reflecting Catholic influence include the use of hand-held candles, the ringing of individual hand bells (to a very loud volume), and the sign of the cross
(usually repeated three times). Protestant influence is shown in public testifying and confession of shortcomings. Native elements include brushing or stroking to remove evil influence, counter-clockwise movement of service participants around the room (often with loud stomping), and spontaneous reception of songs from the spirit. Church members are expected to refrain from using alcohol and tobacco. Carefulness, kindness, and supplication to God for help are emphasized.
The new religion encountered much opposition and hostility from Euro-Americans. As had happened with the Ghost Dance
, there was much misunderstanding and Anglos feared an Indian uprising. For a time, all Indian religious practices were banned by law and the Indian Shakers were included. Many members were imprisoned and chained for their practices. Powell et al. (1976) show two notices posted by the US Indian Service at Quileute Reservation:
In the 1960s, a break occurred among Indian Shakers in which one "conservative" faction continued to reject written religious material while another "progressive" faction was more tolerant of the use of the Bible and other written material.
Indian Shakers continue to practice on the Northwest Coast in Washington, Oregon
, California
, and British Columbia
.
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
denomination
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...
founded in 1881 by Squaxin
Squaxin Island Tribe
The Squaxin Island Tribe is a Native American tribal government in western Washington state in the United States. The Squaxin Island Tribe is made up of several Lushootseed clans: the Noo-Seh-Chatl, Steh-Chass, Squi-Aitl, T'Peeksin, Sa-Heh-Wa-Mish, Squawksin, and S'Hotle-Ma-Mish...
logger John Slocum
John Slocum
John Slocum was a member of the Squaxin Island Tribe, Coast Salish, and a reputed holy man and prophet who founded the Indian Shaker Church in 1881....
in Washington. The Indian Shaker Church is a unique blend of American Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
, and Protestant beliefs and practices.
The Indian Shakers are unrelated to the Shakers
Shakers
The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, known as the Shakers, is a religious sect originally thought to be a development of the Religious Society of Friends...
of New England (United Society of Believers) and are not to be confused with the Native American Church
Native American Church
Native American Church, a religious denomination which practices Peyotism or the Peyote religion, originated in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and is the most widespread indigenous religion among Native Americans in the United States...
.
History and practices
As tradition tells, John Slocum (Squ-sacht-um) had died from sickness in 1881 when he revived during his wakeWake (ceremony)
A wake is a ceremony associated with death. Traditionally, a wake takes place in the house of the deceased, with the body present; however, modern wakes are often performed at a funeral home. In the United States and Canada it is synonymous with a viewing...
reporting a visit to heaven and instructions to start a new religion. When Slocum became ill again several months later, his wife, Mary, began to shake and tremble uncontrollably in prayer. Soon afterward, Slocum recovered. The religion is thus named for the shaking of members during religious congregations. The shaking is reported to have healing powers.
The story is told that Mary had sent for a casket. John was dead. The casket was brought by canoe, down the river. The casket was just coming around the bend in the river when John revived....and told the people he had met Jesus and what they were to do.
Indian Shakers originally rejected the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
and all other written scriptures and instead relied on direct communication between God and the individual. Such Shakers believe that the experience of the Gospel does not require a book, but rather is encoded in the mind and soul in accordance with the will of God. The religion began to be practiced by many unrelated peoples along the Northwest Coast of North America, such as the Klallam
Klallam
Klallam refers to four related indigenous Native American/First Nations communities from the Pacific Northwest of North America. The Klallam culture is classified ethnographically and linguistically in the Coast Salish subgroup...
, Quinault
Quinault (tribe)
The Quinault are a group of Native American peoples from western Washington in the United States.-Lands:The Quinault Indian Reservation, at , is located on the Pacific coast of Washington, primarily in northwestern Grays Harbor County, with small parts extending north into southwestern Jefferson...
, Lower Chehalis, Yakama
Yakama
The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, or simply Yakama Nation , is a Native American group with nearly 10,000 enrolled members, living in Washington. Their reservation, along the Yakima River, covers an area of approximately 1.2 million acres...
, Hoh
Hoh
Hoh is a Native American tribe in western Washington state in the United States. The tribe lives on the Pacific Coast of Washington on the Olympic Peninsula. The Hoh moved onto the Hoh Indian Reservation, at the mouth of the Hoh River, on the Pacific Coast of Jefferson County, after the signing...
, Quileute, and Hupa
Hupa
Hupa, also spelled Hoopa, are a Native American tribe in northwestern California. Their autonym is Natinixwe, also spelled Natinookwa, meaning "People of the Place Where the Trails Return." The majority of the tribe is enrolled in the federally recognized Hoopa Valley Tribe; however, some Hupa are...
, among others.
Practices reflecting Catholic influence include the use of hand-held candles, the ringing of individual hand bells (to a very loud volume), and the sign of the cross
Sign of the cross
The Sign of the Cross , or crossing oneself, is a ritual hand motion made by members of many branches of Christianity, often accompanied by spoken or mental recitation of a trinitarian formula....
(usually repeated three times). Protestant influence is shown in public testifying and confession of shortcomings. Native elements include brushing or stroking to remove evil influence, counter-clockwise movement of service participants around the room (often with loud stomping), and spontaneous reception of songs from the spirit. Church members are expected to refrain from using alcohol and tobacco. Carefulness, kindness, and supplication to God for help are emphasized.
The new religion encountered much opposition and hostility from Euro-Americans. As had happened with the Ghost Dance
Ghost Dance
The Ghost Dance was a new religious movement which was incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. The traditional ritual used in the Ghost Dance, the circle dance, has been used by many Native Americans since prehistoric times...
, there was much misunderstanding and Anglos feared an Indian uprising. For a time, all Indian religious practices were banned by law and the Indian Shakers were included. Many members were imprisoned and chained for their practices. Powell et al. (1976) show two notices posted by the US Indian Service at Quileute Reservation:
Notice to the Shakers: You are hereby permitted to hold meetings... under the following conditions: on Sundays not longer than three (3) hours at one time and on Wednesdays not longer than two (2) hours at one time. The following REGULATIONS to be observed: 1st, Keep windows or a door open during all meetings. 2nd, Use only one bell to give signals. Not continuous ringing. 3rd, Do not admit school children at night meetings.
It has been reported... that there are some women who are violating the Rules... and that they shake at all hours of the day and night. You will therefore tell the women quietly to stop shaking at any other times than the times specified in the rules... If they do not stop,... you will lock them up until they agree to stop. Shaking of the sick must not be allowed... We do not want any trouble in this matter if it is possible to avoid it; but that 'continual and private shaking' must be stopped.
In the 1960s, a break occurred among Indian Shakers in which one "conservative" faction continued to reject written religious material while another "progressive" faction was more tolerant of the use of the Bible and other written material.
Indian Shakers continue to practice on the Northwest Coast in Washington, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
.
Further reading
- Amoss, Pamela T. (1990). The Indian Shaker Church. In W. Suttles (Ed.), Northwest Coast. Handbook of North American Indians (Vol. 7). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
- Barnett, H. G. (1957). Indian Shakers: A messianic cult of the Pacific Northwest. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
- Bright, William. (1984). The virtues of illiteracy. In American Indian linguistics and literature (pp. 149-159). Berlin: Mouton Publishers.
- Castile, George P. (1982). The ‘Half-Catholic’ movement: Edwin and Myron Eells and the rise of the Indian Shaker Church. Pacific Northwest Quarterly, 73, 165-174.
- Eells, Myron. (1886). Ten years of missionary work among the Indians at Skokomish, Washington Territory, 1874-1884 (pp. 180-237). Boston.
- Fredson, Jean T. (1960). Religion of the Shakers. In H. Deegan (Ed.), History of Mason County Washington. Shelton, WA.
- Giovannetti, Joseph M. (1994). Indian Shaker Church. In Native America in the twentieth century: An encyclopedia (pp. 266-267). New York: Garland Publishing.
- Gunter, Erna. (1977). The Shaker Religion of the Northwest. In J. A. Halseth & B. A. Glasrud (Eds.), The Northwest mosaic: Minority conflicts in Pacific Northwest history. Boulder, CO: Pruett Publishing Company.
- Harmon, Alexandra. (1999). Indians in the making: Ethnic relations and Indian identities around Puget Sound (pp. 125-130). Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Harmon, Ray. (1971). Indian Shaker Church, The Dalles. Oregon Historical Quarterly, 72, 148-158.
- Mooney, James. (1896). The Ghost-Dance religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890. Bureau of American Ethnology, 14th annual report, 1892-1893. Washington, D.C.
- Ober, Sarah E. (1910). A new religion among the West Coast Indians. The Overland Monthly, 56 (July-December).
- Powell, Jay; & Jensen, Vickie. (1976). Quileute: An introduction to the Indians of La Push. Seattle: University of Washington Press. (Cited in Bright 1984).
- Ruby, Robert H.; & Brown, John A. (1996). John Slocum and the Indian Shaker Church. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-2865-8.
- Sackett, Lee. (1973). The Siletz Indian Shaker Church. Pacific Northwest Quarterly, 64 (July), 120-26.
- Valory, Dale. (1966). The focus of Indian Shaker healing. The Kroeber Anthropological Society Papers (No. 35). Berkeley: Kroeber Anthropological Society.
External links
- Native Americans organize the Indian Shaker Church in 1892 (HistoryLink)
- John Slocum at Findagrave
- From the University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections - American Indians of the Pacific Northwest Collection:
- The Siletz Indian Shaker Church
- The "Half-Catholic" movement: Edwin and Myron Eells and the rise of the Indian Shaker Church
- The Indian Connection: Judge James Wickersham and the Indian Shakers (1990)
- The Present Status and Probable Future of the Indians of Puget Sound (1914) (see: pp. 18-20)
- The Swinomish People and Their State (1936) (see: pp. 293-295)