John Slocum and Louis Yowaluck circa 1882
Indian Shaker Church, The Dalles
In November of 1881, at 40 years of age, John Slocum operated a small logging camp on Skookum Inlet. He was killed in an accident in the woods and his two half brothers paddled to Olympia for a casket. But they had been gone only a few hours when the body began to stir. Eventually John sat up and began to speak. He claimed that God had sent him back to life with a message for the Indian people - to believe in the man named Jesus.
John and some of his new followers built a cedar and tule mat church at the site of his resurrection (the place now known as Church Point) and he began to preach. John Slocum had a second close encounter with death several years later when he was struck by a sudden illness. John's wife, Mary, walked to a nearby stream for private prayer. As she prayed, a tremor came over her and her whole body began to shake. She returned inside and shook over John's head. Once again he began to stir and, thus, Mary became known as the bearer of "the shake" which is believed to bring healing to those who are physically or spiritually ill.
No comments:
Post a Comment