Indian Shaker Church

The Indian Shaker Church is a Christian denomination founded

in 1881 by Squaxin shaman John Slocum and his wife Mary
Indian Shaker Church
Slocum in Washington state. The Indian Shaker Church is a Total population
unique blend of Indigenous, Catholic, and Protestant beliefs and ~2000 (late 20th century)[1]
practices.
Founder
The Indian Shakers are unrelated to the Shakers (United Society of John Slocum
Believers) and are not to be confused with the Native American
Regions with significant
Church.
populations
Pacific Northwest
History and practices
As tradition tells, Slocum (Squ-sacht-um) had died from sickness in
1881 when he revived during his wake reporting a visit to heaven,
where he was told by an angel that, "you've been a pretty bad
Indian", and where he received instructions to start a new
religion.[2] When Slocum became ill again several months later, his
wife, Mary, began to shake and tremble uncontrollably in prayer.
Soon afterward, Slocum recovered, and his healing was attributed
to Mary's convulsions.[3] The religion is thus named for the shaking The first Indian Shaker Church at
of members during religious congregations.[4] The shaking is Mud Bay, Eld Inlet, Washington
reported to have healing powers.[5] State, c. 1892

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.

The first church was built at Mud Bay outside Olympia,

Washington near the homes of church co-founders and brothers
Mud Bay Louie and Mud Bay Sam.[6][7]

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
The Indian Shaker Church in
Northwest Coast of North America, such as the Klallam, Quinault, Marysville, Washington.
Lower Chehalis, Yakama, Hoh, Quileute, Wiyot, Yurok, 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.
The second Indian Shaker Church at
For a time, all Indian religious practices were banned by law, and
Mud Bay, built 1910 on the same
the Indian Shakers were included. Many members were imprisoned
property as the first 1890s Indian
and chained for their practices. Powell et al. (1976) show two
Shaker Church structure, 21 May
notices posted by the US Indian Service at Quileute Reservation:
2015.

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.[a]

During the latter part of the 20th century, the denomination had 20 congregations with about 2,000
members. 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.[1]
Indian Shakers continue to practice on the Northwest Coast in Washington, Oregon, California, and British
Columbia.

See also
List of Indian Shaker Church buildings in Washington

Reference footnotes
a. Powell et al. 1976,[8] cited in Bright 1984[9]

References

Citations
1. "Indian Shaker Church | American religious sect" (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Indian-S
haker-Church). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
2. Ruby, p. 3
3. Francis, pp. 115–16.
4. Ruby, p. 85
5. Ruby, p. 81
6. Steele 1957, p. 11.
7. Mooney 1896, pp. 754 and 758.
8. Powell & Jensen 1976.
9. Bright 1984.

General and cited references

Bright, William (1984), "The virtues of illiteracy", American Indian linguistics and literature,
Berlin: Mouton Publishers, pp. 149–159
Francis, John (2011). The Ragged Edge of Silence: Finding Peace in a Noisy World (https://
books.google.com/books?id=cXcDAQAAQBAJ&q=Squ-sacht-um&pg=PA115). Washington,
DC: National Geographic Books. ISBN 9781426207235. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
Mooney, James (1896), "The Ghost-Dance Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890",
Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the
Smithsonian Institution, 1892–1893 (https://books.google.com/books?id=j4ST1HSZheUC&p
g=PA758), U.S. Government Printing Office
Powell, Jay; Jensen, Vickie (1976), Quileute: An introduction to the Indians of La Push,
Seattle: University of Washington Press
Ruby, Robert H.; & Brown, John A. (1996). John Slocum and the Indian Shaker Church.
University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-2865-8.
 Steele, E.N. (1957), The rise and decline of the Olympia oyster (https://www.archive.org/dow
nload/risedeclineofoly00stee/risedeclineofoly00stee.pdf) (PDF), Elma, Washington: Fulco
Publications, doi:10.5962/bhl.title.6544 (https://doi.org/10.5962%2Fbhl.title.6544)

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.
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.
Ober, Sarah E. (1910). A new religion among the West Coast Indians. The Overland
Monthly, 56 (July–December).
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.
From the University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – American Indians of the
Pacific Northwest Collection (http://content.lib.washington.edu/):
The Siletz Indian Shaker Church (http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/compo
undobject/collection/lctext/id/1457/rec/2)
The "Half-Catholic" movement: Edwin and Myron Eells and the rise of the Indian Shaker
Church (http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/lctex
t/id/1524/rec/1)
The Indian Connection: Judge James Wickersham and the Indian Shakers (1990) (http://
digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/lctext/id/1527/rec/
2)
The Present Status and Probable Future of the Indians of Puget Sound (1914) (http://digi
talcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/lctext/id/1470/rec/1)
(see: pp. 18–20)
 The Swinomish People and Their State (1936) (http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.ed
u/cdm/compoundobject/collection/lctext/id/1493/rec/13) (see: pp. 293–295)

External links
"Native Americans organize the Indian Shaker Church in 1892" (http://www.historylink.org/in
dex.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=2640), HistoryLink, Seattle: History Ink

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