Article

Shaking Tent

Published Online February 7, 2006

Last Edited October 20, 2014

Shaking Tent rite was widespread among the Ojibwa, Innu (Montagnais-Naskapi), Cree, Penobscot and Abenaki and involved the shamanistic use of a special cylindrical lodge or tent.
Shaking Tent
A Chippewa shaman standing beside the frame of his Shaking Tent (courtesy Milwaukee Public Museum, neg no. 50113).

Shaking Tent rite was widespread among the Ojibwa, Innu (Montagnais-Naskapi), Cree, Penobscot and Abenaki and involved the shamanistic use of a special cylindrical lodge or tent. A shaman, paid by a client, would construct his or her tent and enter it at dark. Singing and drumming summoned the shaman's spirit helpers, whose arrival was signified by animal cries and the shaking tent. These spirit helpers were used in curing and also in anti-sorcery.

See also: Indigenous Peoples: Religion.