The Shaking Tent
The shaking tent, or "conjuring lodge," as early chroniclers also called it, was the setting for a divinatory rite performed by specially trained shamans across much of the Great Lakes and Subarctic. It was a small booth built of saplings. The medicine man entered it and summoned spirits.In the early 1600’s, some native Americans described seeing future visions of the white settlers during a Shaking Tent ceremony – they were amazed at the different color clothing, having never seen this and the strange language. This was in the early 1600’s long before the settlers migrated.
The lodge would shake from the power emitted.
After the shaman entered the frame, it was completely covered with bark or cloth. Onlookers could hear strange sounds issuing from inside as the tent swayed wildly from side to side. During his transcendent state, the shaman could dispatch a supernatural helper, usually a mystical turtle, to distant regions to answer questions from his audience about the most auspicious places to hunt, the well-being of distant relatives, and what would happen in the future.
Witness: “there "was a kind of electricity in the air when it operated", and "the shaman could communicate with people 'telepathically' while in the tent". Native people said about the shaking tent, said "it's very similar to a radio...If there were people far away… and you wanted to communicate with them, then you could do the shaking tent."
