Ten years of missionary work among the Indians at Skokomish, Washington Territory, 1874-1884Eells, Myron
Religion
Ten years of missionary work among the Indians at Skokomish, Washington Territory, 1874-1884
Eells, Myron
Clallam Indians -- Missions; Missions -- Washington (State); Skokomish Indian Reservation (Wash.); Twana Indians -- Missions
Off of the reservation this shaking spread. It took almost entire
possession of the Indians on the Chehalis Reservation, and entered the
school in such a way that the agent and school-teacher there felt
obliged to stop it by force, or allow the school to be broken up.
At Squaxon there were no government employees and it was not possible to
put a complete stop to it there, so it was allowed to have its own way
more. Their great prophecy has been that the world would come to an end
on the Fourth of July, 1884, but, although they assembled and held a big
meeting, and waited for the expected result, it did not come, and so
their faith has been somewhat shaken, although now they have extended
the time one year. Going to various places to obtain work has also
broken them into very small parties, and also occupied them, so that at
present it seems to be dying.
XXVIII.
JOHN FOSTER PALMER.
He was born near Port Townsend, about 1847, and belonged to the now
extinct tribe of the Chemakums. His father died when he was very young,
through the effects of intemperance, and also many others of his
relations, and this made him a bitter opponent of drinking.
When ten years old he went to live with the family of Mr. James Seavey,
of Port Townsend, and went with them in 1859 to San Francisco, where he
remained for a year or two. He then embarked on a sailing-vessel, and
spent most of the time until 1863 or 1864 near the mouth of the Amoor
River, in Asiatic Russia. Returning then to Puget Sound, he served under
the government at the Neah Bay Reservation for a time, but about 1868 he
came to the Skokomish Reservation, where he ever afterward made his
home, serving as interpreter a large share of the time, eight years
under Agent Eells.
He understood four Indian languages: the
[Illustration: JOHN F PALMER.]
Twana, Nisqually, Clallam, and Chinook jargon, also the Russian and
English, and could read and write English quite well. He had a library
worth fifty dollars, and took several newspapers and magazines, both
Eastern and Western, although he only went to school two or three weeks
in his life. To Mr. Seavey’s family, and the captain’s wife on the
vessel when in Russian waters, he always felt grateful for his
education.
When the church was organized at Skokomish, 1874, he united with it,
being the first Indian to do so. He lived to see twenty others unite
with it. On two points he was very firm: against intemperance and the
heathen superstitions: being far in advance of any member of the tribe
on the latter point, with the exception of M. F., soon to be
mentioned--in fact, it was truly said of him, that he was more of a
white man than an Indian.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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