﻿500 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1922. 
  

  

  ized 
  into 
  a 
  " 
  Shaker 
  " 
  church. 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  connection 
  between 
  the 
  

   two 
  organizations 
  of 
  Shakers, 
  and 
  they 
  have 
  nothing 
  at 
  all 
  in 
  com- 
  

   mon, 
  except 
  the 
  name. 
  

  

  The 
  Shaker, 
  or 
  " 
  shake 
  " 
  religion 
  of 
  Puget 
  Sound 
  is 
  therefore 
  one 
  

   of 
  the 
  world's 
  " 
  new 
  " 
  religions, 
  in 
  the 
  usual 
  sense 
  in 
  which 
  religions 
  

   are 
  new. 
  That 
  is, 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  quaint 
  and 
  curious 
  recombination 
  of 
  old 
  

   elements. 
  

  

  A 
  variety 
  of 
  ideas 
  and 
  practices 
  may 
  easily 
  be 
  recognized 
  out 
  of 
  

   which 
  this 
  " 
  new 
  " 
  form 
  of 
  belief 
  has 
  been 
  patched 
  together. 
  The 
  

   substratum 
  back 
  of 
  this 
  western 
  Shakerism 
  is 
  the 
  primitive 
  heathen- 
  

   ism 
  of 
  the 
  Puget 
  Sound 
  Indians. 
  These 
  primitive 
  beliefs 
  and 
  prac- 
  

   tices 
  are 
  what 
  lend 
  color 
  and 
  vitality 
  to 
  the 
  whole, 
  and 
  result 
  in 
  some 
  

   curious, 
  picturesque, 
  and 
  wonderfully 
  edifying 
  performances. 
  The 
  

   history 
  of 
  the 
  Shaker 
  system 
  is 
  briefly 
  this, 
  that 
  on 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  this 
  

   old 
  " 
  Shamanism," 
  or 
  medicine-performances 
  of 
  the 
  native 
  Indian, 
  

   there 
  have 
  been 
  added, 
  first, 
  Roman 
  Catholic 
  ideas 
  and 
  institutions, 
  

   and 
  then 
  evangelical 
  Protestantism, 
  derived 
  largely 
  from 
  the 
  Con- 
  

   gregational 
  sources. 
  To 
  see 
  the 
  various 
  doctrines 
  and 
  practices 
  de- 
  

   rived 
  from 
  such 
  origins, 
  lying 
  down 
  together 
  like 
  the 
  lion 
  and 
  the 
  

   lamb 
  in 
  the 
  bosom 
  of 
  one 
  Redskin, 
  is 
  to 
  me 
  the 
  most 
  entertaining 
  and 
  

   instructive 
  spectacle 
  in 
  the 
  world. 
  

  

  The 
  religion 
  was 
  invented 
  and 
  established 
  by 
  the 
  Indians; 
  but 
  I 
  

   know 
  of 
  more 
  than 
  one 
  " 
  white 
  " 
  convert. 
  When 
  an 
  observer 
  looks 
  

   at 
  this 
  " 
  Shakerism 
  " 
  he 
  no 
  longer 
  feels 
  so 
  baffled 
  by 
  the 
  quaint 
  and 
  

   heterogeneous 
  combinations 
  met 
  with 
  in 
  the 
  " 
  great 
  " 
  religions, 
  such 
  

   as 
  Islam, 
  Lamaism, 
  or 
  Christianity. 
  In 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  this 
  Indian 
  

   religion 
  the 
  combination 
  and 
  fusion 
  of 
  utterly 
  dissimilar 
  ideas 
  has 
  

   gone 
  on 
  before 
  our 
  eyes. 
  I 
  think 
  we 
  will 
  have 
  to 
  recognize 
  the 
  adroit- 
  

   ness 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  who 
  combined 
  in 
  one 
  ritual, 
  elements 
  of 
  the 
  

   Catholic 
  mass 
  and 
  the 
  Congregational 
  prayer-meeting, 
  to 
  say 
  noth- 
  

   ing 
  of 
  heathen 
  charms 
  and 
  incantations, 
  older 
  probably 
  than 
  either 
  

   of 
  the 
  others. 
  

  

  The 
  successful 
  concocting 
  of 
  these 
  elements 
  was 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  one 
  

   individual 
  Indian, 
  named 
  John 
  Slocum, 
  now 
  deceased, 
  " 
  our 
  poor 
  

   brother, 
  John 
  Slocum," 
  as 
  the 
  Shaker 
  preachers 
  always 
  call 
  him 
  in 
  

   their 
  sermons. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  impossible 
  not 
  to 
  notice 
  that 
  Shakerism 
  was 
  " 
  in 
  the 
  air 
  " 
  

   among 
  the 
  Indians 
  of 
  that 
  region, 
  before 
  it 
  was 
  invented 
  by 
  Slocum. 
  

   Anyone 
  who 
  is 
  interested 
  in 
  the 
  various 
  efforts 
  at 
  combining 
  Prot- 
  

   estantism 
  and 
  Catholicism 
  by 
  these 
  Indians 
  will 
  find 
  the 
  facts 
  in 
  two 
  

   entertaining 
  works. 
  These 
  are 
  The 
  Ghost 
  Dance 
  Religion, 
  by 
  James 
  

   Mooney 
  (Smithsonian 
  Institution, 
  Bureau 
  of 
  American 
  Ethnology, 
  

   Fourteenth 
  Annual 
  Report, 
  Part 
  2, 
  Chapter 
  8) 
  ; 
  and 
  Myron 
  Eells, 
  

   Ten 
  Years 
  at 
  Skokomish 
  (Boston, 
  Congregational 
  Sunday-School 
  

  

  