Hutterites: Notes

Contemporary Group: Hutterites or Hutterian Brethren (Visit one Hutterite colony in southern Manitoba.)
origin and location

persecuted in Russia (although of German descendent) for religious ideas
Protestant reform group: Anabaptist -- adult baptism (originally meant, second baptism)
Hutterites came later than Amish, so they settled in the Western USA
1870s small group settled in U.S. (Dakota Territory)
located first in U.S. and later in Canada to avoid conscription in the U.S.

discrimination

pacifists: U.S. government promised that they would not have to do military service but during W.W.I were conscripted
1919 South Dakota government tried to dissolve them because
- leaders had a bad influence on their members
- colony regulations and practices were contrary to SD law
- they refused to support the US in time of war

all but one of the 18 Hutterites moved to Canada to avoid military service
1947, Alberta government passed Communal Property Act:
- prohibited Hutterites from buying land within 40 miles of another colony
- new colonies could not own more than 6,400 acres
- 90 day waiting period was required before land could be sold to them

settlements and agriculture

today, 200 colonies and 20,000 members
small colonies: 100 people -- called Bruderhoefe (brother villages)
large farm units: 4,000 acres in Manitoba, 6,000 in Alberta
live in clustered villages, not scattered like the Amish
common ownership of all property
modern day technology in farming and houses
grain and livestock farming
buy farm an personal supplies and equipment wholesale
each colony operates independently, but they help each other in crisis, e.g., fires, floods. sickness

culture and gender roles

plain clothing: black and dark blue for clothing and curtains
women sew all clothing
egalitarian values between same sex yet traditional men-women sex roles in work functions
every day speech: extinct Tyrolean (German) dialect

Created by Ingolf Vogeler and last revised on 06 April 2005.