Tolowa Indian Shakers and the Role of Prophecy at Smith River, California

Abstract

N THE 1880s, the Prophet Dances and the Indian Shaker Church enjoyed increasing influence in the Pacific Northwest, eventually spreading into California. These movements fulfilled the need for powerful helpers and human fathers; North American messiahs and prophets of crisis cults [were] all cast in the mold of the old Indian Shamanistic god-man and culture heroes.' The Shaker Church was organized as an association on June 7, 1892 at Mud Bay, Washington, and incorporated June 20, 1910 at Olympia.2 La Barre wrote: Every prophet is at once revivalist and modernist,... [and each] .. . movement finds its own culture-hero or prophet. His genius is communication, particularly in his ability to establish similar subjective states in others.3 John Slocum, a Nisqually Indian of Mud Bay, Washington, and his wife, Mary Johnson Slocum, received the basic inspirations of the Indian Shaker religion in 1882. Like the Native American Church, this syncretic religion incorporated elements of Christian theology with traditional Indian religions. On June 25, 1893 at Tacoma, Washington, James Wickersham, the Shakers' attorney, recorded John Slocum's deposition regarding the incidents and prophetic insights which lead to the founding of the new religion. Church records include the few reasonably authenticated direct statements of John Slocum in his capacity of founder-prophet of the new religion, quoted in Barnett (1972). Like many other Indian prophets, Slocum reportedly and was resurrected. After Slocum contracted a serious illness which made him weak and poor, and after five Indian doctors had tried unsuccessfully to revive him, his would die two or three hours at a time, and though Shakers disagree as to whether he died in the usual sense, they believe his soul was out of the body. Slocum may have believed that he in fact had died, because he said he a shining light-great light-trying my soul. I looked and saw my body had no soul-looked at my own body-it was dead. Then Slocum returned and spoke to an assemblage of his friends, saying when I die, do not cry. At that point he a second time: Angels told me to look back and see my body. I did, and I saw it lying down. According to the Shaker Prophet,his left [his] body and went up to judgement