Chapter VIII: Introduction (6)

+Klû’kătät+ (Shahaptian stock).—_Synonyms_: Clickahut, Clickitat, Klikatat, Qwû′lh-hwai-pûm, Weyehhoo, Whulwhypum. The name by which this tribe is commonly known is from the Wasko language and signifies “beyond (the mountain)”—that is, east of the Cascade range—with reference to the Chinookan tribes on the lower Columbia. The same name was also at times extended to the Yakima. They call themselves Qwûlh-hwai-pûm, “prairie people;” from _qwûlh-hwai_, “prairie,” and _pûm_, “people,” referring particularly to their occupancy of Camass prairie. They formerly occupied the southern slopes of Mount Adams and Mount Helens, with the country of Klikatat and Lewis rivers, in the present Klickitat and Skamania counties, Washington. East of them were the Yakima and west were the Salishan and Chinookan tribes. At one time they lived farther east, but were driven west by the Cayuse. (_Stevens._) About sixty years ago they crossed the Columbia and overran the Willamet country, and even penetrated as far south as the Umpqua, but afterward withdrew again to their proper country. Although but a small tribe, they were aggressive and enterprising and were the trade medium between the tribes west of the mountains and those east. They joined in the Yakima treaty of 1855 and are now chiefly on Yakima reservation, but a few are still on White Salmon river, in Klickitat county. Their number is unknown. The Taitinapam and Topinish speak the same language and may be considered as branches of this tribe.

+Qa′pnĭsh-‛lĕma+ or +Topinish+ (Shahaptian stock).—A small tribe on Topinish river in Yakima county, Washington, within the present limits of the reservation. They speak the Klûkatät language. The name signifies “people (_‛lĕma_) of the trail coming from the foot of the hill.”

+Taitinapam+ (Shahaptian stock).—_Synonym_: Tai-kie-a-pain (misprint). A small tribe speaking the Klûkatät language, formerly living on the western slopes of the Cascade mountains, between the heads of Lewis and Cowlitz rivers, in Skamania county, Washington, being the westernmost tribe of Shahaptian stock. If any are left, they are probably incorporated with the Klûkatät on Yakima reservation. They never had official recognition.

+Chämnä′pûm+ (Shahaptian stock).—_Synonyms_: Chimnahpum, Chimnapoos, Cuimnapum. A tribe which occupied the bend of the Columbia below Yakima river, together with the country on the lower Yakima, chiefly in the present Yakima county, Washington. They are the Chimnahpum of Lewis and Clark, and speak a dialect of the language of the Pä′lus and Wanapûm, with which tribes the few survivors are incorporated. A few are also still living on the west side of the Columbia, opposite Pasco. The name is of their own language and means “people (_pûm_) of Chämnä′,” their old village about opposite Wallula.

+Pishquitpah+ (Shahaptian stock).—This name occurs only in the narrative of Lewis and Clark as that of a tribe in 1805, “residing at the Muscleshell rapid and on the north side of the Columbia to the commencement of the high country, wintering on the borders of the Tapteal.” The Tapteal (properly Waptail or Waptailmĭm) is Yakima river. This would locate them in eastern Klickitat and Yakima counties, Washington. They are probably identical with the Pĭsko band of the Yakima. In the name Pishquitpah the final _pah_ is the Yakima or Pä′lus locative _pä_, “at.”

+K̔ka′săwi+ or +Kowwassayee+ (Shahaptian stock).—A small tribe speaking the Tenino language and formerly occupying a village of the same name, K̔ka′săwi, on the north bank of the Columbia, in Klickitat county, Washington, about opposite the mouth of the Umatilla. The full name is K̔ka′săwi-‛lĕ′ma, “people (_‛lĕma_) of the arrow-making place,” the local form being from _k̔ka′so_, “arrow.” They took part in the Yakima treaty of 1855 under the name of Kowwassayee, and are now on Yakima reservation.

+Hăhau′pûm+ or +Wahowpum+ (Shahaptian stock).—A small tribe speaking the Tenino language and occupying a village, Hăha′u, on the north bank of the Columbia, about the mouth of Olive creek, in Klickitat county, Washington. The word means “willow people,” from _hăha′u_, a species of willow, and _pûm_, “people.” They are the Wahowpum of Lewis and Clark. They have never had official recognition.

+Uchi′chol+ or +Ochechotes+ (Shahaptian stock).—A small tribe speaking the Tenino language, living now, or formerly, on the north bank of the Columbia in Klickitat county, Washington. They are mentioned as Ochechotes in the Yakima treaty of 1855, and may now be incorporated with other tribes on Yakima reservation. The name, from the Tenino language, signifies the “hind dorsal-fin” (of a salmon), and is the name of a rock on the north side of the Columbia, opposite the upper end of the island, at the mouth of the Des Chutes. See _Tapänäsh_.

+Skĭ′npä+ (Shahaptian stock).—_Synonyms_: Sawpaw (?), Skien, Skin, Skinpah. A small tribe speaking the Tenino language and formerly having a village on the north bank of the Columbia in Klickitat county, Washington, at the falls opposite Celilo. They took part in the Yakima treaty of 1855 under the name of Skinpah, and are now incorporated with the other tribes on Yakima reservation. The name is Tenino, and means “cradle place,” or “at the cradle,” from _skĭn_, “cradle,” and _pä_, the locative, and refers to a prominent rock at the site of their former village having some resemblance to an Indian cradle. See _Tapänäsh_.

+Täpanä′sh+ or +Eneeshur+ (Shahaptian stock).—A small tribe speaking the Tenino language, having a village on the north bank of the Columbia in Klickitat county, Washington, about opposite the mouth of Des Chutes river and a little above Celilo. The name is identical with the Eneeshur of Lewis and Clark, these explorers in 1805 having also included under this name the various bands speaking the Tenino language on both sides of the Columbia about the mouth of the Des Chutes. The Tapänäsh have no official recognition. See _Tenino_.

+Tlaqluit+ or +Wŭshqûm+ (Chinookan stock).—_Synonyms_: Echebool, Echeloot, Eloot, Helwit, Niculuita, Ouichram, Tchilouit, Tilhulhwit, Wisham, Wishham, Wishram, Wisswham. The Tlaqluit, with the Wasko, are the easternmost tribes of Chinookan stock on the Columbia, having immediately above them the Shahaptian tribes, speaking the Tenino language. The Tlaqluit territory lies along the north bank of the Columbia in Klickitat county, Washington, from Tenino, about 6 miles above The Dalles, down to the neighborhood of White Salmon river. They call themselves Tlaqluit (Echeloot of Lewis and Clark), and are called Wŭshqûmă-pûm, or “Wŭshqûm people,” by the tribes speaking the Tenino language, Wŭshqûm being the name of their chief village near South Side at The Dalles, the great fishing and trading resort for the tribes of this section. The name appears also as Wishram. Both Tlaqluit and Wŭshqûm refer to a species of louse or flea abounding in that neighborhood. They took part in the Yakima treaty of 1855 under the name of Wishham, but most of them have probably never gone on the reservation. See _Wasko_.

There is a tradition in the tribe that long before the coming of the whites to the Columbia a band of Tlaqluit left their people on account of a petty quarrel as to whether a goose made a certain noise with its bill or with its wings, and went up the Columbia and the Spokane, and are supposed to be now about the headwaters of the latter stream and still retaining their language, although under a different tribal name.

+Chilû′ktkwa+ or +Chilluckittequaws+ (Chinookan stock).—A tribe formerly extending along the north bank of the Columbia in Klickitat and Skamania counties, Washington, from about White Salmon river down to some distance below the Cascades. They are called Chilluckittequaws in 1805 by Lewis and Clark, who speak also of a separate band of the same tribe under the name of Smackshop, a name which can not now be identified. The tribe now numbers less than 100. Until recently the remnant lived about the mouth of White Salmon river, but removed about thirteen years ago to the Cascades. Their language is nearly the same as that of the Wasko. They have never had official recognition.

+Kwikwû′lĭt+ or +Dog River+ (Chinookan stock).—_Synonyms_: Cascade Indians, Kigaltwalla, Upper Chinook, Wahclellah, Watlala. A small tribe formerly living at the Cascades and about Dog river, a small stream coming into the Columbia about half-way between the Cascades and The Dalles, in Wasco county, Oregon. They are identical, in part at least, with the Wahclellahs of Lewis and Clark (mentioned as a part of the “Shahala nation”), and are the “Ki-gal-twal-la band of the Wascoes” and the “Dog River band of the Wascoes” of the Wasco treaty of 1855. The “Dog River or Cascade Indians” were reported to number 80 souls in 1854. In the next year they, with other tribes, entered into the Wasco treaty, by which they agreed to remove to Warmspring reservation, where some of them now are, while the others are still about the Cascades. Their language is nearly the same as that of the Wasko.

+Wasko+ (Chinookan stock).—_Synonyms_: Dalles Indians, Wascopum. A tribe formerly claiming the country about The Dalles, on the south bank of the Columbia, in Wasco county, Oregon. They, with the Tlaqluit on the opposite bank, are the easternmost extension of the Chinookan stock, and speak the same language. The name is said to be a Tenino word, meaning “grass,” or “grass people.” It has sometimes been made to include several cognate bands about The Dalles and Cascades, on both sides of the Columbia. Under the name of “The Dalles band of the Wascoes,” they entered into the Wasco treaty of 1855, and are now on Warmspring reservation in Oregon. They numbered 260 in 1892.

+Waiäm+ (Shahaptian stock).—_Synonyms_: (Lower) Des Chutes, Waiäm-‛lĕma, Wayyampa, Wyam. A tribe speaking the Tenino language and formerly living about the mouth of Des Chutes river, in the present Wasco and Sherman counties, Oregon. Their chief village was on the Columbia where Celilo now is, and was called Waiäm, whence their name of Waiäm-‛lĕma or “people of Waiäm.” They joined in the Wasco treaty of 1855 under the name of “Wyam or Lower Des Chutes band of Walla-Wallas,” and are now on Warmspring reservation in Oregon. Their number is not separately reported.

+Tai′-ăq+ (Shahaptian stock).—_Synonyms_: Taigh, Ta-ih, Tairtla, Tyich. A tribe speaking the Tenino language and formerly occupying the country about Tygh and White rivers, in Wasco county, Oregon. The name Tai′-ăq refers to the stream and denotes “muddy, white water.” They took part in the Wasco treaty of 1855 under the name of “Ta-ih or Upper Des Chutes band of Walla-Wallas,” and are now on Warmspring reservation, Oregon. Their number is not reported.

+Tĭ‛lqûni+ (Shahaptian stock).—A tribe formerly claiming the country between Tygh valley and Warmspring river, west of Des Chutes river, in the present Wasco county, Oregon. They are now on Warmspring reservation, in the same neighborhood. They have never been officially mentioned under their Indian name, and may be considered the Warmspring proper, although this name is local rather than tribal. They speak the Tenino language. See _Tenino_.

+Tenino+ or +Mĕli′-‛lĕma+ (Shahaptian stock).—The most important Shahaptian tribe of western Oregon. They formerly occupied middle Des Chutes river, and conquered the present Warmspring reservation from the Paiute or Snake tribes, but never occupied it until put there by the Wasco treaty of 1855. Since then they have been known indiscriminately as Tenino or Warmspring Indians, although this latter designation is commonly used to include other cognate tribes on the same reservation. For this reason it is impossible to give their number definitely. The Tenino language, in various dialects, is spoken, excepting by the Lohim, by all the tribes formerly living on both banks of the Columbia and on its tributaries from the country of the Wasko about The Dalles up to about the mouth of the Umatilla.

Most of this region, on the south or Oregon side of the Columbia, was formerly held by Shoshonean tribes of Paiute connection, which have been dispossessed by the Shahaptian tribes and driven farther back to the south. The only Shoshonean tribe which maintained its place on the Columbia was the Lohim, on Willow creek. The Tenino themselves conquered the present Warmspring reservation from the Snakes. The expulsion was in full progress when Lewis and Clark went down the Columbia in 1805, but had been practically completed when the first treaties were made with these tribes fifty years later. Lewis and Clark state that “on that (the south) side of the river none of the tribes have any permanent habitations, and on inquiry we were confirmed in our belief that it was from the fear of being attacked by the Snake Indians, with whom they are constantly at war. This nation they represent as being very numerous and residing in a great number of villages on the Towahnahiook (Wanwaui or Des Chutes), where they live principally on salmon, ... the first villages of the Snake Indians being twelve days’ journey on a course about southeast of this place.” In the appendix, after mentioning various bands of Snakes on Snake and Willamette rivers, they speak of the main body as “residing in the fall and winter on the Multnomah (Willamet) river, southward of the Southwest mountains, and in spring and summer near the heads of the Towahnahiook (Des Chutes), Lepage (John Day), Yaumalolam (Umatilla), and Wollawollah rivers, and especially at the falls of the Towahnahiook, for the purpose of fishing.” In the Wasco treaty of 1855 the Shahaptian tribes were recognized as owners of the whole country southward to the forty-fourth parallel, from the Cascade range east to the Blue mountains. See _Tapänäsh_.

+Tûkspû′sh+ or +John Day Indians+ (Shahaptian stock).—_Synonyms_: Dock-spus, John Day Rivers, Tûkspûsh-‛lĕma. A tribe speaking the Tenino language and formerly living along the lower part of John Day river, Oregon, having their principal village at the falls about 4 miles above the mouth. They are now on Warmspring reservation, and numbered 59 in 1892, with perhaps others off the reservation. Tûkspûsh is the name of John Day river in the Tenino language.

+Lohĭm+ or +Willow Creek Indians+ (Shoshonean stock).—A tribe living on Willow creek, in Gilliam and Morrow counties, Oregon. They are of Shoshonean connection, being the only Indians of this stock who have been able to maintain their position on the Columbia against the inroads of the Shahaptian tribes. They have never made a treaty with the government, and are generally spoken of as renegades belonging to the Umatilla reservation. In 1870 they were reported to number 114, but are not mentioned in the recent official reports.

+Cayuse+ or +Wailĕ′tpu+ (Waiilatpuan stock).—_Synonyms_: Cailloux, Kayuse, Shiwanish, Skyuse, Wailetma, Yeletpo Chopunnish (of Lewis and Clark). The Cayuse are a warlike tribe of distinct stock formerly occupying the mountain country on the heads of Wallawalla, Umatilla, and Grande Ronde rivers in Oregon and Washington, including the present Umatilla reservation. Further investigation may yet establish a linguistic connection with the Shahaptian tribes. The Molala, formerly on Molalla creek, west of the Cascades, are a separated band, of whose western migration the Cayuse and their neighbors still have a tradition. The Cayuse formerly bore a high reputation for intelligence and bravery, but on account of their fighting propensities, which led them to make constant war on the Snakes and other tribes to the west, they were never very numerous. In 1838 a Presbyterian mission, called Waiilatpu, had been established among the Cayuse, by Dr Whitman, where now is the town of Whitman, in Wallawalla county, Washington. In 1847 the smallpox, before unknown among them, carried off a large part of the tribe. The Cayuse, believing that the missionaries were the cause of it, attacked the mission on November 29, 1847, killed Dr Whitman and thirteen others, and destroyed the mission. As a matter of fact, there seems little question that the infection was brought into the country in supplies intended for the use of the mission or of emigrants temporarily stopping there. In 1854, according to Stevens, “the tribe, though still dreaded by their neighbors on account of their courage and warlike spirit, is but a small one, numbering, according to the census of 1851, only 126. Of these, individuals of the pure blood are few, the majority being intermixed with the Nez Percés and the Wallah-Wallahs, particularly with the former, to such a degree that their own language has fallen into disuse.” A few years ago only a few individuals, then living on Umatilla reservation, retained their old language. In 1855 they joined in the treaty by which Umatilla reservation in Oregon was set apart, and most of those remaining are now there, while a few others are with the Nez Percés at Lapwai. Joseph, the noted Nez Percé chief, is himself the son of a Cayuse father. In 1892 the Cayuse on Umatilla reservation were reported to number 391, but it is evident that most of these are mixed-bloods of other tribes, particularly the Umatilla. The name Cayuse is from the Nez Percé language. They call themselves Wailĕtpu. They are known to the Yakima as Wi′alĕt-pûm or Wai′lĕtma, and to the Tenino as Shiwanish, or “strangers from up the river,” a name extended also to the Nez Percés.

+Umatilla+ (Shahaptian stock).—_Synonym_: Utilla. A tribe formerly occupying the lower portion of the river of the same name, with the adjacent bank of the Columbia, in Oregon. They speak a distinct language of the Shahaptian stock. By the treaty of 1855 they agreed to go on Umatilla reservation in Oregon, where in 1892 they were reported to number 216. A large proportion of those now called Cayuse on the same reservation are Umatilla mixed-bloods.

+Wallawalla+ (Shahaptian stock).—_Synonyms_: Oualla-Oualla, Walawaltz, Wollawollah, Wollaw-Wollah. A tribe formerly occupying the country about the lower portion of the river of the same name and along the east bank of the Columbia from Snake river down nearly to the Umatilla, in Washington and Oregon. They take their name from the river, the word being said to refer to “rushing water.” Their language is said to resemble closely that of the Nez Percés. By the treaty of 1855 they agreed to go on Umatilla reservation, Oregon, where, in 1892, they were reported to number 474.

A small band of the same tribe, known to the Yakima as Walu′la-pûm, formerly lived on the west bank of the Columbia opposite the present Wallula. Their dialect is said to have been more akin to the Pä′lus language.

+Sahaptin+ or +Nez Percés+ (Shahaptian stock).—_Synonyms_: Chohoptins, Chopunnish (Lewis and Clark), Copunnish, Laaptin (misprint), Â′dal-k̔ato′igo, “people with hair cut across the forehead” (Kiowa name), Shi′wanĭsh (Tenino name, applied also to the Cayuse), Wa′pamĕtănt (Yakima name for the language). The Nez Percés are said to call themselves Sahaptin, and were named Nez Percés, or “pierced noses,” by the French from their former custom of wearing nose pendants. They are the most important tribe of the Shahaptian stock, and formerly occupied a large territory in eastern Washington and Oregon and central Idaho, bounded on the east by the main divide of the Bitterroot mountains, and including lower Grande Ronde and Salmon rivers, with a large part of the Snake and all of the Clearwater. The Wallowa valley, the disputed title to which led to the Nez Percé war, lies on a branch of the Grande Ronde, in Oregon. They had the Salishan tribes to the northeast, the Shoshonean tribes to the south, and the Cayuse, Wallawalla, and Pälus, with all of whom they are much intermarried, on the west and northwest. Almost all authorities give them a high character for bravery, intelligence, and honorable conduct traits which were strikingly displayed in the Nez Percé war.

Lewis and Clark traversed their country in 1805, and speak of them and some connected tribes under the name of Chopunnish, distinguished as follows: Chopunnish nation (about the present Lapwai reservation), Pelloatpallah band (the Pälus), Kimooenim band (on Snake river, between the Salmon and the Clearwater), Yeletpo band (the Cayuse), Willewah band (in Wallowa valley, afterward Joseph’s band), Soyennom band (on the north side of the upper Clearwater, in Idaho; these were really a part of the Pälus—the proper form is Tätqu′nma, whence Thatuna hills, referring to “a fawn” in the Pälus language, and was the name applied to their kamas ground about Camass creek), Chopunnish of Lewis river (on Snake river, below the Clearwater). In response to a request from the Nez Percés, who sent a delegation all the way to Saint Louis for that purpose in 1832, the first Protestant mission was established among them at Lapwai, Idaho, in 1837. Soon afterward they entered into relations with the government, and made their first treaty with the United States in 1855. By this treaty they ceded the greater portion of their territory, and were confirmed in the possession of a reservation including Wallowa valley. On the discovery of gold in the country, however, the miners rushed in, and in consequence a new treaty was made in 1863, by which they gave up all but the present Lapwai reservation in Idaho. Joseph, who occupied Wallowa valley with his band, refused to recognize this treaty or remove to Lapwai. This refusal finally led to the Nez Percé war in 1877, as already related. The main body of the tribe took no part in the war. After the surrender of Joseph his band was removed to Indian Territory, where the mortality among them was so great that in 1884 they were returned to the northwest. For several reasons, however, it was deemed unadvisable to settle them in the neighborhood of their old home, and a place was finally found for them in 1887 on Colville reservation in northern Washington. In 1892 there were 1,828 on Lapwai reservation and 138 on Colville reservation, a total population of 1,966.

+Chapter VIII+

THE SHAKERS OF PUGET SOUND

My breath was out and I died. All at once I saw a great shining
light. Angels told me to look back. I did, and saw my own body
lying dead. It had no soul. My soul left my body and went up to the
judgment place of God.... My soul was told that I must come back
and live on earth. When I came back, I told my friends, “There is a
God. My good friends, be Christians. If you all try hard and help
me, we shall be better men on earth.”—_John Slocum._

In 1881 there originated among the tribes of Puget sound in Washington a new religion, which, although apparently not founded on any doctrinal prophecy, yet deserves special attention for the prominent part which hypnotism holds in its ceremonial. Indeed, there is good reason to believe that the Paiute messiah himself, and through him all the apostles of the Ghost dance, have obtained their knowledge of hypnotic secrets from the “Shakers” of Puget sound.

The founder of the religion is Squ-sacht-un, known, to the whites as John Slocum. He is now (1896) about 58 years of age. His chief high priest is Louis Yowaluch, or Ai-yäl as he is called by the Yakima. Both are of the Squaxin tribe. In 1881 (Eells makes it 1882) he “died” or fell into a trance one morning about daylight and remained in that condition until the middle of the afternoon, when he awoke and announced that he had been to heaven, but had been met at the entrance by angels, who forbade him to enter on account of his wickedness, and gave him his choice either to go to hell or return to earth and teach his people what they must do to get to heaven. Accordingly, he came back to earth and began his divinely appointed mission, introducing into the new doctrine and ritual a great deal of what he had learned from the white missionaries. From the nervous twitchings which so peculiarly distinguished them, his followers soon became known as “Shakers.” Although strongly opposed by the agent, who arrested and imprisoned the leaders and visited various minor penalties on their followers, the Shaker religion grew and flourished until it now has a regular organization with several houses of worship, and has received the official indorsement of the Presbyterian church.

The following account of the system, in response to a letter of inquiry, was obtained from the missionary, Reverend Myron Eells, brother of the agent:

A curious phase of religion sprang up in the fall of 1882 among
some of the Indians on the southern part of Puget sound. It has
prevailed mainly among the Squaxon, Nisqually, Skokomish, and
Chehalis Indians, and has been called by its opponents the “Shake
religion,” and its followers have been called “Shakers” on account
of a large amount of nervous shaking which is a part of the form
of its observance. It is evidently based upon about the same
principles of the mind as the jerks and shouting at camp meetings
among the whites of the southern and western states fifty years
ago, when they were more ignorant and less acquainted with real
religion than they are now. When superstition, ignorance, dreams,
imagination, and religion are all mingled together, either among
whites, Indians, or people of any other race, they produce a
strange compound. It has proven so in this case.

In the fall of 1882 an Indian named John Slocum, who was living on
Skookum bay, in Mason county, apparently died. Some years previous
he had lived on the Skokomish reservation, where he had attended
a Protestant church, and had learned something of the white man’s
religion, God, Jesus Christ, and the morals inculcated. He had
also learned something in his early life of the Catholic religion
and its forms and ceremonies. Many Indians were present when he
was sick and apparently died. They said his neck was broken, and
that he remained dead for about six hours, when he returned to
life, jumped up, and ran off a short distance, and soon began to
converse with the people. Whether or not it was a case of suspended
animation is a question. A white man, a near neighbor of his, who
saw him before his apparent death, while he thus lay, and after his
resuscitation, said he believed the Indian was “playing possum.”
But the Indians believed that he really died and rose again.

The Indian stated that he died and attempted to go to heaven, but
could not enter it because he was so wicked. He was there told,
however, the way of life, and that he must return to this earth and
teach his people the way, and induce them to become Christians. He
gained a small band of followers, a church was built for him, and
he steadily preached to the people.

Affairs went on this way until the next August. Then, after
consultation with other Indians who favored him, especially on the
Skokomish reservation, it was decided to hold a big meeting. The
Indians of the surrounding region were called to go. They were told
that they would be lost if they did not; that four women would be
turned into angels; that persons would die and be raised to life
again, and that other wonderful things would be done.

Many went, about half of those on the Skokomish reservation being
among the number, and they did hold a big meeting. Women did go
around trying to fly like angels; four persons are said to have
died, and, with the power which was said to have been given them
from above, others were said to have brought them back to life
again. This was a mixture of trying to perform miracles, as in
Bible times, to prove the divinity of their religion, and some
of the ceremonies of their old black _tomahnous_. This was a
secret society of their savage days, in which persons went into a
hypnotic condition, in which they became very rigid, and out of
which they came in the course of time. The followers of this new
religion dreamed dreams, saw visions, went through some disgusting
ceremonies a la mode the black _tomahnous_, and were taken with
a kind of shaking. With their arms at full length, their hands
and arms would shake so fast that a common person not under the
excitement could hardly shake half as fast. Gazing into the
heavens, their heads would also shake very fast, sometimes for a
few minutes and sometimes for hours, or half the night. They would
also brush each other with their hands, as they said, to brush off
their sins, for they said they were much worse than white people,
the latter being bad only in their hearts, while the Indians were
so bad that the badness came to the surface of their bodies and the
ends of their finger nails, so that it could be picked off. They
sometimes brushed each other lightly, and sometimes so roughly that
the person brushed was made black for a week, or even sick.

In connection with this they held church services, prayed to God,
believed in Christ as a savior, said much about his death, and used
the cross, their services being a combination of Protestant and
Catholic services, though at first they almost totally rejected the
Bible, for they said they had direct revelations from Christ, and
were more fortunate than the whites, who had an old, antiquated
book.

After having kept up this meeting for about a week, they disbanded
and went to their homes, but did not stop their shaking or
services. They sometimes held meetings from 6 oclock in the evening
until about midnight, lighting candles and putting them on their
heads for a long time. They became very peculiar about making the
sign of the cross many times a day, when they began to eat as they
asked a blessing, and when they finished their meal and returned
thanks; when they shook hands with anyone—and they shook hands
very often—when they went to church and prayer meeting on Thursday
evening, and at many other times, far more often than the Catholics
do.

On the Skokomish reservation their indiscretions caused the death
of a mother and her child, and an additional loss of time and
property to the amount of $600 or $800 in a few weeks. It also
became a serious question whether the constant shaking of their
heads would not make some of them crazy, and from symptoms and
indications it was the opinion of the agency physician, J. T.
Martin, that it would do so. Accordingly, on the reservation the
authority of the agent was brought to bear, and to a great extent
the shaking was stopped, though they were encouraged to keep on
in the practice of some good habits which they had begun, of
ceasing gambling, intemperance, their old style incantations over
the sick, and the like. Some at first said they could not stop
shaking, but that at their prayer meetings and church services on
the Sabbath their hands and heads would continue to shake in spite
of themselves; but after a short time, when the excitement had died
away, they found that they could stop.

But about Skookum bay, Mud bay, and Squaxon the shaking continued,
and it spread to the Nisqually and Chehalis Indians. It seemed
to be as catching, to use the expression of the Indians, as the
measles. Many who at first ridiculed it and fought against it,
and invoked the aid of the agent to stop it, were drawn into it
after a little, and then they became its strong upholders. This
was especially true of the medicine-men, or Indian doctors, and
those who had the strongest faith in them. The Shakers declared
that all the old Indian religion, and especially the cure of the
sick by the medicine-men, was from the devil, and they would have
nothing to do with it, those who at first originated and propagated
it having been among the more intelligent and progressive of the
uneducated Indians. Very few of those who had learned to read and
had been in Sabbath school for a considerable length of time were
drawn into it. It was the class between the most educated and the
most superstitious who at first upheld it. They seemed to know
too much to continue in the old-style religious ceremonies, but
not to know enough and to be too superstitious to fully believe
the Bible. Consequently, the medicine-men were at first bitterly
opposed to it. About this time, however, an order came from the
Indian department to stop all medicine-men from practicing their
incantations over the sick. As a respectable number of the Indians
had declared against the old style of curing the sick, it seemed
to be a good time to enforce this order, as there was sufficient
popular opinion in connection with the authority of the agent
to enforce it. This was done, and then the medicine-men almost
entirely joined the Shakers, as their style was more nearly in
accordance with the old style than with the religion of the Bible.

As it spread, one Indian went so far as to declare himself to be
Christ again come to earth, and rode through the streets of Olympia
at the head of several scores of his followers with his hands
outstretched as Christ was when he was crucified. But he was so
ridiculed by other Indians and by the whites that he gave up this
idea and simply declared himself to be a prophet who had received
revelations from heaven.

For several years there has been very little of the shaking or this
mode of worship among the Indians on the reservation, excepting
secretly when persons were sick. Still, their native superstition
and their intercourse with those off the reservation, who sometimes
hold a special gathering and meeting when their followers grow cold
and careless, has kept the belief in it as a religion firm in their
hearts, so that lately, since they have become citizens, and are
hence more free from the authority of the agent, the practice of it
has become more common, especially when persons are sick.

In fact, while it is a religion for use at all times, yet it is
practiced especially over the sick, and in this way takes the
place of the medicine-men and their methods. Unlike the system
of the medicine-men, it has no single performer. Though often
they select for leader one who can pray the best, yet in his
absence another may take the lead. Like the old system, it has
much noise. Especially do they use bells, which are rung over the
person where the sickness is supposed to be. The others present
use their influence to help in curing the sick one, and so imitate
the attendants on an Indian doctor, getting down upon their knees
on the floor and holding up their hands, with a candle in each
hand, sometimes for an hour. They believe that by so holding up
their hands the man who is ringing the bell will get the sickness
out more easily than he otherwise would. They use candles both
when they attempt to cure the sick and in their general service,
eschewing lamps for fear of being easily tempted, as they believe
coal-oil lights to be from Satan.

In another point also this resembles very closely their old
religion. For a long time before a person is taken sick they
foretell that his spirit is gone to heaven and profess to be able
to bring it back and restore it to him, so that he will not die
as soon as he otherwise would. This was also a part of the old
_tomahnous_ belief.

They have also prophesied very much. Several times when a person
has died they have told me that someone had foretold this event,
but they have never told me this until after the event happened,
except in one case. They have prophesied much in regard to the end
of the world and the day of judgment. Generally, the time set has
been on a Fourth of July, and many have been frightened as the
time drew near, but, alas, in every instance the prophecy failed.
Like Christians, they believe in a Supreme Being, in prayer,
the sabbath, in heaven and hell, in man as a sinner, and Christ
as a savior, and the system led its followers to stop drinking,
gambling, betting, horse racing, the use of tobacco, and the
old-style incantations over the sick. Of late years, however, some
of them have fallen from grace.

It has been a somewhat strange freak of human nature, a
combination of morals and immorals, of Protestantism, Catholicism,
and old Indian practices, of dreams and visions—a study in
mental philosophy, showing what the mind may do under certain
circumstances. Yet it is all easily accounted for. These Indians
have mingled with the whites for a long time, nearly ever since
most of them were small. All classes of whites have made sport of
their religion—the infidel, the profane man, the immoral one, the
moral one, and the Christian—and they have been told that God and
the Bible were against it, consequently they lost faith in it. But
the Indian must have some religion. He can not do without one. They
were not ready to accept the Bible in all its purity. They wanted
more excitement. Like the Dakota Indians more recently, they saw
that Christ was the great center of the most powerful religion of
the most powerful, intelligent, successful, and wisest nations with
whom they came in contact. Consequently they formulated a system
for themselves that would fill all their required conditions, and
when a few leaders had originated it, a large share of the rest
were ripe to accept it, but having had more Christian teaching
than the wild Dakotas, it took a somewhat different form, with no
thought of war and with more of real Christianity.

James Wickersham, esquire, of Tacoma, Washington, the well-known historian of that region, is the regular attorney for these people as a religious organization, and is consequently in a position to speak with authority concerning them. In reply to a letter of inquiry, he states that the Shakers believe in an actual localized heaven and hell, and reverence the Bible, but regard John Slocum’s revelations as of more authority. “They practice the strictest morality, sobriety, and honesty. Their 500 or 600 members are models, and it is beyond question that they do not drink whisky, gamble, or race, and are more free from vice than any other church. They practice a mixture of Catholic, Presbyterian, and old Indian ceremonies, and allow only Indians in the church. They have five churches, built by themselves, and the sect is growing quite rapidly.” From all this it would appear that the Shaker religion is a distinct advance as compared with the old Indian system.

Under date of December 5, 1892, Mr Wickersham wrote again on this subject, as follows:

I read your letter to my Indian friends, and they beg me to
write you and explain that they are not Ghost dancers, and have
no sympathy with that ceremony or any other founded on the
Dreamer religion. That they believe in heaven as do the orthodox
Christians; also in Christ, and God, the Father of all; that they
believe in future rewards and punishments, but not in the Bible
particularly. They do believe in it as a history, but they do not
value it as a book of revelation. They do not need it, for John
Slocum personally came back from a conference with the angels at
the gates of heaven, and has imparted to them the actual facts and
the angelic words of the means of salvation.

This testimony is even better than the words of Christ contained
in the Bible, for John Slocum comes 1800 years nearer; he is an
Indian, and personally appears to them and in Indian language
reports the facts. These people believe Slocum as firmly as the
martyr at the stake believed in that for which he offered up his
life; but it is the Christian religion which they believe, and not
the Ghost dance or Dreamer religion.

In short, they have a mixture of Catholic, Protestant, and Indian
ceremonies, with a thorough belief in John Slocum’s personal visit
to heaven, and his return with a mission to save the Indians and
so guide them that they, too, shall reach the realms of bliss.
Personally, I think they are honest, but mistaken; but the belief
certainly has beneficial effect, and has reduced drinking and crime
to a minimum among the members of the “Shaker” or “Tschaddam”
church.

In conclusion, permit me to say that the general assembly of the
Presbyterian church in this state has several times examined into
the religion and character of the Shaker or Slocum church, and
has highly indorsed its people and their character and actions.
Yowaluch is their head now, and the strongest man mentally among
them.

Some months later Mr Wickersham forwarded a circumstantial and carefully written statement of the history and present condition of the movement. In accordance with his request, we publish it as written, omitting only some paragraphs which do not bear directly on the general subject. It may be considered as an official statement of the Shaker case by their legally constituted representative. As might have been expected, he takes direct issue with those who have opposed the new religion. The reader will note the recurrence of the Indian sacred number, four, in Slocum’s speech, as also the fact that his first trance was the culmination of a serious illness.

_Tschaddam or Shaker religion_

“On Christmas day, 1854, a treaty was signed at the mouth of Shenahnam or Medicine creek, on the south side of Puget sound, Washington, between Isaac I. Stevens, governor and ex officio superintendent of Indian affairs for the United States, and the chief and headmen of the Nisqually, Puyallup, and other small tribes of Indians residing around the south shores of Puget sound.”

“One of these small tribes was the Squaxin, situated on the southwestern branch or arm of Puget sound, now known as Little Skookum bay, in Mason county, Washington, near Olympia. The remaining members of this tribe yet live on the old home places, having purchased small tracts of their old hunting grounds from the first settlers; and they now make a living by fishing and gathering oysters as in days of old. Of the fishy tribe of Squaxin was born John Slocum, as he is known to the ‘Boston man,’ but to his native friends he is known as Squ-sacht-un.”

“John Slocum, Squ-sacht-un, is now (1893) about 51 years of age, about 5 feet 8 inches high, and weighs about 160 pounds; rather stoop shouldered, with a scattering beard, a shock of long black hair, a flat head (fashionably flat, and produced by pressure while a baby), bright eyes, but in all rather a common expression of countenance. He is modest and rather retiring, but has unquestioned confidence in himself and his mission. He is married, and up to the time of his translation was looked on as a common Indian, with a slight inclination to fire-water and pony racing, as well as a known fondness for Indian gambling.”

“In the month of October, 1881, Slocum was unaccountably drawn to think of his evil courses. While in the woods he knelt and prayed to God, and began seriously to think of the error of his ways and of the evil days that had fallen on his few remaining native friends. Whisky, gambling, idleness, and general vice had almost exterminated his people. His eyes were opened to the folly of these facts, and he prayed. He, however, became sick; and as his sickness increased, these ideas became brighter in his mind and his duty more clear. He grew worse, and one day he died. He was pronounced dead by all present, and was laid out for burial. His brother went to Olympia for a coffin, and a grave was prepared. He died at 4 oclock in the morning, and late in the afternoon he again resumed life and recovered consciousness.”

“His recovery was rapid, and immediately he told those present that during his term of death his soul had been to heaven, where it had been met by the angels, who, after a proper inquiry as to his name, etc., told him that he had been bad on earth, and reminded him very forcibly of his shortcomings while there, and finally wound up by informing him that he could not enter heaven, but that he could either go to hell or could go back to the earth and preach to the Indians and tell them the way to heaven. He accepted this latter proposition, and the result was that his soul again returned to earth, reentered its old body, and has from that day to this animated Slocum with the spirit of a crusader against gambling, whisky drinking, and other ‘Boston’ vices.”

“About a year ago I was employed by these people as their attorney, and at their request attended the meetings in Mason county, and had a long conference with them. As a practical person would, Slocum undertook to demonstrate to me his honesty and the divine character of their religion, and at a large meeting composed only of Indians, members of his church, he made to me a long public statement of facts, and explained, through an interpreter, the character of their religion and of their belief. I wrote down at the time a synopsis of what was said to me, and now quote it at some length as being the exact words of Slocum, and as the best explanation of their religion.”

“Standing before all his people, in the most solemn and impressive manner, in their church, he said in substance:”

“The witnesses have spoken the truth. I was sick about two weeks,
and had five Indian doctors. I grew very weak and poor. Dr Jim was
there. He could not cure me. They wanted to save me, but my soul
would die two or three hours at a time. At night my breath was out,
and I died. All at once I saw 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.”

“I came through the first time and told my friends, ‘When I die,
don’t cry,’ and then I died again. Before this I shook hands and
told my friends I was going to die. Angels told me to look back and
see my body. I did, and saw it lying down. When I saw it, it was
pretty poor. My soul left body and went up to judgment place of
God. I do not know about body after 4 oclock.”

“I have seen a great light in my soul from that good land; I have
understand all Christ wants us to do. Before I came alive I saw I
was sinner. Angel in heaven said to me, ‘You must go back and turn
alive again on earth.’ I learned that I must be good Christian
man on earth, or will be punished. My soul was told that I must
come back and live four days on earth. When I came back, I told
my friends, ‘There is a God—there is a Christian people. My good
friends, be Christian.’”

“When I came alive, I tell my friends, ‘Good thing in heaven. God
is kind to us. If you all try hard and help me we will be better
men on earth.’ And now we all feel that it is so.”

“A good Christian man prayed with me four days. After four days,
a voice said to me, ‘You shall live on earth four weeks.’ My soul
was told that they must build a church for me in four weeks. I had
lumber for a house, and my friends built church. Had it all done in
four weeks but 6 feet of roof, and spread a mat over that. Soon as
the church was finished the people came and filled the house and
began to worship God. I felt strong—bigger than today—all these
men know this. My friends worked hard, and I am here because they
finished the house in four weeks. My soul was told to remain on
earth four weeks more. All my friends came, and every Saturday we
worshiped God. In four weeks more my soul was told that I should
live on earth four years if I did right and preached for God. All
felt thankful, and people joined the church—about fifty people. I
was promised more time if we worshiped God.”

“A bad man can’t reach heaven. I believe in God. I saw how bad I
used to be. God sends us light to see. They know in heaven what we
think. When people are sick, we pray to God to cure us. We pray
that he take the evil away and leave the good. If man don’t be
Christian, he will suffer and see what is bad. When we remember
Jesus Christ’s name, we always felt happy in our hearts. This is
good road for us to travel if we hold on. If we do, God’s angels
are near to our souls. Power from this to help us. When we pray, it
helps us lots in our hearts. We don’t do good sometimes, because
our hearts are not right. When our body and heart feel warm, we do
good and sing good songs. As Christ said, he sends power to every
believing soul on earth.”

“While one man can try to start religion here on earth, it don’t
do much good; they won’t believe him much. That’s why we join to
worship. Now we are preparing ourselves for judgment. For it is
said, it don’t make any difference if he prays good and does good.
God gives him help and words to speak. Makes no difference if
‘Boston’ or Indian, if God helps we know it. These things are what
we learned. We learn good while we pray—voice says, Do good.”

“It is ten years, now, since we began, and we have good things. We
all love these things and will follow them all time. We learn to
help ourselves when sick. When our friend is sick, we kneel and ask
for help to cure him. We learn something once in a while to cure
him. Then we do as we know to help him and cure him. If we don’t
learn to help him, we generally lose him.”

“This is a pretty accurate synopsis of the speech delivered to me by Slocum, and translated by another Indian, who spoke pretty good English. But that a more thorough knowledge may be given of their religious belief, I give also a brief synopsis of another speech made at the same meeting by Louis Yowaluch, a full-blood Indian, who is the legal head of this church. It is about as follows:”

“Well, my friend, we was about the poorest tribe on earth. We was
only tribe now full blood and nothing else. We would not believe
anything. Minister came here, but we laugh at him. We loved bad
habits—stealing—and John Slocum died. He was not a religious
man—knew nothing of God—all of us same. We heard there was a God
from Slocum—we could see it. Same time we heard God, we believe
it. I was worst of lot. I was drunkard—was half starving—spent
every cent for whisky. I gambled, raced horses, bet shirt, money,
blankets—did not know any better.”

“John Slocum brought good to us; his words civilized us. We could
see. We all felt blind those times. We lost by drowning—our friends
drink whisky and the canoes turn over—we died out in the bay. Today
who stopped us from these things?”

“John Slocum came alive, and I remember God and felt frightened. We
never heard such a thing as a man dying and bring word that there
was a God. I became sick for three weeks, four weeks. I hear a
voice saying to soul, ‘Tomorrow they will be coming to fix you up.’
Had just heard about John Slocum, and knew it was punishment for my
bad habits. My heart was black—it was a bad thing.”

“Now I have quit swearing—my heart is upside down—it is changed.
After I heard the voice I heard another say: ‘There it is now—some
one to fix you up. Have you prepared your heart? If you don’t
believe in Christ, you will go into a big fire and burn forever.’
I saw a man’s hand coming to my heart. That day I got up—was
well—talked to my friends, advising them. I will remain a follower
of Christ as long as I live.”

“Long ago we knew nothing at all. When Slocum came back from God,
we found out there was a God. From that time we have prayed for
anything we want. We follow God’s way. God teaches us if we do bad
we will go to hell. That’s why we pray and avoid bad habits. If
we don’t ask grace, bad things come when we eating. When we drink
water, we think about God before drinking. If we don’t think of
him, may be we get sick from water. If traveling, may be we die if
we don’t think of God. We are afraid to do wrong against God. Long
time ago we worked on Sundays, but no more now. Our brother Christ
has given us six days to work. On Sunday pray to God. God put
people here to grow—puts our soul in our body. That’s why we pray
so much. If we quit, like a man quit his job, he gets no pay. We
would go to fire in hell. We have no power to put out hell fire.”