While working at Tulalip and Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, I knew members of the Shaker Church but never had the nerve to ask anyone about Shaker beliefs or orthodoxy.
When I researched the church, I kept stumbling upon a man by the name of John Slocum.
Squ-sacht-un (John Slocum) (1838 – 11 November 1897)
Who was he?
John Slocum was a Coast Salish Squaxin Indian, born in 1838 in today’s Shelton, Washington. He founded the Indian Shaker Church in 1882 and was considered a prophet by his followers. And like all good prophets, he has quite a story behind his ascent to prominence.
Historic Indian Shake Church at Tulalip, Washington (photo taken by me in 2026)
John Slocum was a success by the time he turned 30 years old. He had his own logging company that employed 14 workers, both White and Native people. But by his own admission, Slocum was in trouble. He was a drinker of Jamaica Ginger and a compulsive gambler. Jamaica Ginger was a stiff concoction borne from ginger root. Mr. Slocum had lots of company for his fondness of Jamaica Ginger, especially during Prohibition when it was classified as medicine and therefore exempt from the law banning alcoholic beverages. Its popularity plummeted in the 1930s when tens of thousands of Americans were paralyzed by bad batches of homemade Jamaica ginger.
Slocum’s spiritual journey began when he nearly died after a hard night of drinking. He emerged from oblivion and said an Angel informed him that Native Americans would find their way to salvation if they gave up drinking, tobacco, and gambling. He was also told to build a church that spread the message about living a cleaner, more Godly life. In the beginning, there were few if any written orthodoxy or rules associated with Slocum’s church. Instead, followers practiced a kind of hybrid orthodoxy that included both traditional Native and Biblical stories, singing and rituals.
Chief Joseph Anderson’s Shaker church, Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, Photo courtesy of Darlene Peters
Soon after the church was built, Slocum fell ill again, a sickness unrelated to alcohol. His wife shook uncontrollably with grief at his bedside, something that she felt was instrumental in his recovery. Slocum survived and shaking became a feature of parishioners at church services, the action serving to shake off evil spirits.
Slocum and some of his followers were imprisoned regularly for their opposition to U.S. government acculturation programs that targeted Pacific Coast peoples. Persecutions ended after the church was legally incorporated in Oregon (1907), Washington (1910), and California (1932), and in the late 20th century more than 20 congregations united, with some 3,000 adherents.
In the 1960s, a debate occurred among Indian Shakers. One group continued to reject written religious material while another was more tolerant of the use of the Bible and other written material. These issues were worked out among believers, and the church survives to this day. Slocum died in Oakland, Washington in 1897 and is buried in the Shelton Memorial Cemetery. A monument was built at his gravesite in 1975.
Leota Pablo, a Shaker Church ordained minister, presided over my wedding in 1998
