Shaker Church (native religious movement)
The Shaker Church is a native religious movement originating in the Pacific Northwest, particularly among the tribes around Puget Sound in Washington State. Distinct from the historical Shaker movement founded by Mother Ann Lee, the Indian Shaker Church remains actively practiced today within many Indigenous communities. The movement was initiated by John Slocum, a Skokomish Indian, who, after a near-death experience in 1881, claimed to have received a divine message to lead a spiritual renewal among Native peoples, emphasizing the abandonment of gambling and alcohol.
Mary Slocum, John’s wife, contributed to the movement by introducing ritual shaking, which became a significant aspect associated with healing within the church. Despite facing opposition from other Christian groups and internal divisions, the Shaker Church spread rapidly among Northwest tribes. It asserts a unique identity as an Indigenous movement, focusing on healing and spiritual empowerment tied to John Slocum's life and message. The Shaker Church, while influenced by broader Christian themes, is distinct in its practices and belief systems, and it maintains a degree of exclusivity, often inviting only Indigenous individuals to participate in its rites and rituals.
Shaker Church (native religious movement)
- DATE: Established 1882
- TRIBES AFFECTED: Originally Skokomish; later, most Northwest Coast Indigenous nations
- SIGNIFICANCE: The Shaker Church of the Northwest Coast cultural area, originating in the late nineteenth century, stresses healing and refraining from behaviors such as gambling and alcohol use
The Shaker Church is an Indigenous religious movement of the Pacific Northwest and western Canada that originated among the various tribes of the area surrounding Puget Sound in Washington State. This movement should be carefully differentiated from the more widely known historical movement, the “Shakers,” founded under the leadership of former Quaker Mother Ann Lee. This latter Shaker movement has very few adherents today (it tends to be associated with furniture styles and American folklore), while the Indian Shaker Church is still widespread among Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest. The two movements have no historical or ideological connection, and the “shaking” itself is a different phenomenon in each group.
The movement began as a result of the visions of John Slocum but was supplemented by the activities of his wife, Mary Slocum, who contributed the ritual movements that gave the church its “shaker” name.
Research by H. G. Barnett recorded a number of versions of the events leading to the founding of the Shaker Church, but a general description can be made. In 1881, John Slocum, a Skokomish (Coast Salish) Indian living at Mud Bay, Washington, appeared to die after spending many years involved in gambling and alcoholism. Many descriptions report that he said that he ascended into heaven, spoke with God, and was instructed to begin a new renewal movement to save the Indian people. The message appeared to involve a preparation for the second coming of Jesus Christ and demanded of his listeners that they stop gambling and give up alcohol. It was also suggested that the dead relatives of the Indigenous people would soon be restored. John Slocum was sent back to his body, where he began to awaken in the presence of family and friends who had gathered to mourn his death. His resurrection amazed his family and was the initial motivation for the starting of the movement. It is often said that Slocum immediately asked for a church building to be constructed, where he began to preach and teach the message that he believed he had been given.
After a period of time, Slocum himself returned to his previous lifestyle and went through another episode of near-death. During his long illness (or, in some versions, a second death), his wife Mary went to a riverbank to get some water; while there, she was overcome by bodily shaking. When she returned to John’s side, it was seen that her shaking was associated with John’s recovery, and the shaking became a part of the movement at that time. This shaking was associated with healing power, and healing became one of the central activities of the adherents of the Shaker movement.
The movement spread rapidly among Northwest Indigenous peoples, and adherents faced opposition and harassment by missionaries from other Christian denominations. There were also internal difficulties. The movement has experienced some divisions based on both personalities and doctrine. In 1946, for example, a branch that asserted belief in the Bible broke away and called themselves “Full Gospel” to differentiate themselves from the Shaker Church, known among believers as the “1910 Shakers.” The latter group maintains that the Bible is not central to its religious practice.
The movement asserts itself as a uniquely Indigenous movement, and Whites are typically not invited to participate. Clearly, part of Slocum’s original vision was the restoration of Indigenous rights in the face of increasing White control of land. In 1855, tribes in the Puget Sound area had ceded all claims to their traditional lands and accepted reservations in return. The slow decline of many of the Northwest Indigenous groups resulted.
In the twenty-first century, the central tenets of the Shaker Church are the importance of the events of John Slocum’s life and the significance of his message, and God’s gift to the Shaker people of the shaking and its healing powers. The latter is particularly important, as Shaker Church members value healing as historically one of the most important activities of the movement. The movement can be considered a Christian sect and may be seen as related to other Indigenous renewal movements, such as the Ghost Dance religion and the Longhouse religion. As with those other movements, modern practitioners are wary of open discussions of the exact nature of the rites, rituals, and beliefs of the movement, particularly with non-Indigenous Americans.
Bibliography
Barnett, Homer G. Indian Shakers: A Messianic Cult of the Pacific Northwest. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1957.
“Indian Shaker Church.” Squaxin Island Tribe, squaxinisland.org/indian-shaker-church. Accessed 27 Dec. 2024.
Ruby, Robert H., et al. John Slocum and the Indian Shaker Church. University of Oklahoma Press, 2018.
Wright, Eric. “Indian Shaker Church.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 15 June 2016, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/shaker-religion. Accessed 27 Dec. 2024.