While the Shakers are associated in North American with simplicity and communalism, an examination of Shaker history reveals a dynamic and complex society. Shaker life was structured by a powerful metanarrative: the Shakers were the ‘Chosen People of God,’ who lived in ‘His Promised Land.’ This narrative, which is profoundly geographical due to its intertwining of people with place, was not static in its interpretation. Nevertheless, it served as the basis for the discourses concerning the most appropriate means to live in the World, but not be of it. Few geographers have examined religiosity and spirituality systematically. This research highlights the interaction between religiosity, identity, place, and narrative as an essential element of the human condition. Religiosity is expressed through narratives and rituals and buttresses a sense of identity and belonging in place. Particular expressions of the Shaker covenantal narrative were shaped by the places in which the Shakers existed. This work examines the Shaker experience at New Lebanon Shaker Village (New York) focusing on the antebellum period. It examines the context in which the Shakers existed, the shifts in the interpretations of the Shaker covenantal narratives, and the means by which the Shaker leadership disseminated their ideas. / Thesis (Ph.D, Geography) -- Queen's University, 2009-05-21 09:32:07.477

155 p. / Lone Pine Indian Shaker Village, located in The Dalles, Oregon, is the last remaining example of a late nineteenth century fishing settlement, a resource type that once proliferated along the banks of the Columbia River. Lone Pine Indian Shaker Village is also significant for its association with mixed heritage settlement, Native American fishing traditions, and the Indian Shaker Religion, a religion unique to the Northwest. This is an historical and architectural study of the village which includes the historical context and detailed description of the built environment, as it exists today and has evolved over time. Photographs, measured drawings, oral interviews and archival research are used to document and analyze the history and built environment of the village. Also included is a discussion of Treatment and Use options, followed by the author's recommendation for preservation and use of the village complex as an interpretive site. Today the village complex is vacant and suffers from neglect, and on November 19, 1996 the Indian Shaker Church collapsed under snow loads. Although an unfortunate event, it brings the issue of preservation of the entire site to the forefront. If no management plan is developed this valuable piece of Northwest cultural history will be lost forever. / Keepers of the Preservation Education Fund's H. Ward Jandl Fellowship

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