John Slocum

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John Slocum ( Squ-sacht-un ) († 1892 ) was a member of the Squaxin Island Tribe ( Sahewamish ), an Indian group in the US state of Washington , who lives on the southern Puget Sound and which belongs to the coastal Salish . In 1881 he founded the Indian Shaker Church , which mixes the Christian faith with traditional Indian cults ( syncretism ).

Life

Slocum worked as a lumberjack in Mason County , Washington. Tradition has it that Slocum fell ill in 1881 and, in a trance-like state, experienced how he died and went to heaven. There he was told how he could save the American Indians. So he stands in line with other prophets of this era, such as Wovoka , Tavibo and Smohalla .

But it wasn't until five years later that he turned to the Indians with his teaching - called Tschadam . However, in 1887 Slocum fell ill again, and he was cared for by his wife, Mary Thompson Slocum. She is said to have repeatedly shivered and twitched in his presence, which her husband interpreted as a spiritual phenomenon that saved his life. He later viewed this as "emotion" during the service, which could have healing effects and with which one could cast off sins. This is where the name Indian Shaker Church comes from .

His mystical idea of ​​making direct contact with God and his rejection of the scriptures made him an opponent of the Christian churches. His teaching was quite eclectic and used elements of Christian rites in the ritual . The extensive use of lights, handbells, mass clothing, images of saints and the ritual repetition of the sign of the cross can be traced back to Catholic influences. Protestant influences make themselves felt in the public confession ritual. The ritual brushing off of sinfulness, the conscious counter-clockwise ritual sequence in the worship service, the stamping and spontaneous singing of inspired content are more likely to go back to rites of the coastal Salish . Alcohol and tobacco were rejected, friendliness, consideration and helpfulness were considered high virtues.

Dealing with Historic Heritage: A farm in Oregon (near the corner of Interstate 84 and US Route 197) and an Indian Shaker Church in The Dalles that are on the Historic Heritage List

In 1892 the Indian Shaker Church was founded. The first church building was built on Slocum's instructions in 1882 at Shaker Point across from Squaxin Island.

Slocum was arrested several times. The government feared a mass religious movement and a general uprising. She tried to channel and regulate the phenomenon by restricting the duration of the rituals, by making them public, by restricting them to the bright time of day (at least for school children). Since the control and exercise of power was much more intense in the reservations, churches emerged outside - Mud Bay, the first. On the advice of a lawyer, the local church tried to get formal recognition. The church leader there was known as Mud Bay Louis, and Slocum accepted himself as an Elder without opposition until his death in 1892 .

The Shaker Church

precursor

As early as the 18th century - before direct contact with the Euro-Americans - a religious reform movement was assumed for the Indians of the plateau cultures , which is known as the "prophet's dance" . Time and again, visionaries from different tribes prophesied of the coming dramatic changes. Presumably the news of the development of equestrian cultures in the prairies , new epidemics and strange things had inspired them. Some of the prophets had "died" of a plague and had heard beyond heaven and hell, angels, God, and some wondrous people whose coming would change the world before they came back to life to preach their message. They encouraged their tribes to sing new songs at the round dances to celebrate this end time. Even if the prophecies did not come true, the movement was enlivened by new prophets. This development paved the way for the Catholic missionaries who came in the 19th century and was a fertile basis for new Christian-indigenous mixed religions.

A well-known example is the Washat religion on the Columbia River, in which the ethnic component still clearly predominated: on Sundays, the community met in large ridge-roof tents. Men and women each performed their own standing dances with singing, ringing bells and eating together. Spontaneous "sermons" by the elders emphasized the need for fellowship for the future. As life givers, water and earth were central symbols of this religion (see also: Mother Earth ) .

Slocum's success

Thanks to its religious history, Slocum's teachings quickly spread beyond the tribe, first to the Chehalis , where a church was built in Oakville in 1883, the Skokomish , then to other tribes such as the Klallam , Quinault , Lower Chehalis and Cowlitz . The latter established contact with the Yakama in 1890 . These in turn soon sent missionaries to Oregon , where churches were built in Warm Springs , The Dalles and Siletz (1923), and California . The local Hupa built a church on the Smith River. The Washington Klallam from Jamestown again won many Klallam on Vancouver Island .

From 1907 Mud Bay Sam led the church in Mud Bay, which was recognized as the first Shaker church on December 17, 1910. Their leader became the first bishop . He was advised by five elders . Since he died a little later, however, a meeting of 600 members in Oakville appointed Peter Heck as his successor.

But in 1927 there was a rift over the question of the use of the biblical scriptures in worship - there were no objections to reading the Bible. Heck, however, refused to use them in church services. His opponent was William Kitsap from Tulalip , who rejected the episcopal election for life - which Heck claimed - and won an election in 1933. Heck questioned the legitimacy of the election, as well as the narrow victory of his opponent in 1935. The two opponents called in 1938/39 for separate meetings in Neah Bay (Kitsap) and Oakville. The assemblies now appointed two bishops. The dispute was not settled until 1945 by the Snohomish County Superior Court .

The church was divided into the Indian Shaker Church, headed by Bishop Heck, and the Indian Full Gospel Church , whose bishop was Kitsap. The church property remained with the Washington Shaker Church. Another split took place in 1953 at Yakima Church , where the Independent Shaker Church was formed. It accepted the use of the Bible in worship, but was much more conservative than the Indian Full Gospel Church .

Alex Teio, the grandfather of future Bishop Harris Teo, was an Elder of the Church as early as 1910. His grandson presided over the Church from 1974 to 1991, followed by Clifford Tulee.

In 1996 it comprised 21 congregations and around 3,000 members between British Columbia and Northern California.

In British Columbia, parishes exist in: Brentwood Bay , Capilano , Chemainus Bay , Chilliwack , Duncan , Koksilah , Kuleet Bay , Musqueam , Saanich , Squamish, and Vancouver ;

in Washington: Auburn , Bellingham , Billysville , Chehalis , Colville , Concrete , Eatonville , Gate, Georgeville, Grays Harbor , Hoquiam , La Conner , LaPush , Lower Elwha , Lummi Reservation, Marysville , Moclips , Muckleshoot Reservation, Mud Bay, Neah Bay, Nespelem , Nooksack Reservation, Oakville , Olympia , Pierce County , Port Angeles , Queets , Quileute , Quinault , Satus , Seattle , Sedro-Woolley , Skagit County , Skagit Reservation, Skokomish Reservation, Snohomish County , Swinomish Reservation, Tacoma , Taholah , Thurston County , Tulalip Reservation, Walla Walla , White Swan and in the Yakima Reservation ;

in Oregon: Chuloquin , Pendleton , Siletz , Warm Springs ;

in California: Crescent City , Hoopa, Johnson (now ghost town), Klamath Falls , Smith River , Table Bluff in Humboldt County, and Ukiah .

All of the Shaker churches mentioned have been locally independent since their founding, so that great differences have developed in terms of teaching and cult practice. The differences to Christianity are sometimes enormous: In some places the Virgin Mary is worshiped as a deity of equal rank with Jesus Christ.

literature

  • Homer Garner Barnett: Indian Shakers: a messianic cult of the Pacific Northwest , Southern Illinois University Press 1957, reprinted 1972 and 2008 ( online )
  • Robert Ruby and John A. Brown: John Slocum and the Indian Shaker Church , Norman: University of Oklahoma Press 1996

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b c d Christian F. Feest : Animated Worlds - The Religions of the Indians of North America. In: Small Library of Religions , Vol. 9, Herder, Freiburg / Basel / Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-451-23849-7 . Pp. 197-199.
personal data
SURNAME Slocum, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Squ-sacht-un
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Member of the Squaxin Island Tribe (Sahewamish), an Indian group in Washington
DATE OF BIRTH 19th century
DATE OF DEATH 1892