In 1881, Squaxin Island Tribe member and Mason County logger (he is always described thus) John Slocum died, and then came back to life at his own wake. Helluva party. On awakening, Slocum said he’d received instructions from heaven to renounce gambling, smoking and drinking. The following year, after deviating from this righteous path, he fell ill again; his wife got the shakes while praying for him, and he recovered. A Church is born!*
The church incorporates elements of indigenous, catholic, and protestant religious practices (but not New England shaker), and it’s early popularity naturally pissed off the tribes’ Euro-descended neighbors. Which *sigh* of course meant a ban, imprisonment of practitioners, new regulations, etc. — you know, the usual. Including this notice from the U.S. Indian Service:
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…[Y]ou will lock them up until they agree to stop.**
Luckily, everyone got over it!
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Indian Shaker Church on the Swinomish Reservation, 3, 1, 2, 4, c. 2010
Pentax MX, Hoya HMC 70-150mm 1:3.8 zoom
Kodak Plus-X
* Well, ten years later, when it was formally organized after building a following all along Puget Sound.
**See here