Hutterites

The Hutterite religion and way of life began in sixteenth century Switzerland where they organized themselves into a belief called Anabaptism. Anabaptists could not swear oaths or carry weapons, and for this reason, they have sometimes been seen as a threat to the governments of the countries they have lived in. They were forced to leave Switzerland and immigrated to Moravia. It was here that they were organized into a church by Jacob Hutter (for whom they are named) in 1528. Hutter taught them his beliefs and taught them to live in large groups. War made the Hutterites move from country to country in Central Europe until 1842 when a Russian noble promised them safety in the Ukraine. They stayed in the Ukraine for thirty-two years until the Russian Tsar forced all Russians serve in the army, which was against their religion. They then moved to the United States where they could get both land and freedom. But, when the United States entered World War I, the Hutterites again became disliked because they would not fight in the war. Because of this many of them were put in prison during the war. This experience led the Hutterites to look in other countries for land and freedom from military service.

P19760226007-GP A group of Hutterite girls pose for the camera.

As early as 1899, the Hutterites had looked to Canada as a possible location for their colonies. They were promised then that they would not have to serve in the army if they settled in Canada. This promise and the large amounts of farm land available made the Hutterites decide to come to Canada. Two of the three Hutterites groups settled in Alberta. In 1918, they started ten colonies in the southern part of the province. The Hutterites that settled in southern Alberta were very successful, and in their first four years in Alberta they began fourteen new colonies in the southwestern part of the province.

Despite their success the Hutterites in Alberta were not welcomed by their neighbours right away. In fact, many people in southern Alberta protested the coming of the Hutterites. The Hutterites were blamed for not having to go to war and getting rich while the rest of the country was paying the price for freedom. Another thing that bothered other members of the community was that the Hutterites spoke German. People did not like this because Germany was the enemy in the war at the time. The dislike of the Hutterites forced the Canadian government to take away their exemption from military service. The government also stopped the immigration of Hutterites to Canada .

As the twenties passed, the dislike of the Hutterites lessened. It was seen that the Hutterites were mostly good farmers and good neighbours who added to the wealth of the local farming communities. It was also seen that the Hutterites did not mind being educated in public schools, as long as they could maintain their own language and religious training. During the Great Depression of the 1930's, when many farmers were struggling to survive, the Hutterites did very well, and some wanted the government to bring even more Hutterite colonies to Alberta. This friendlier attitude towards the Hutterites made it much easier for them to expand their farms. During the twenties and thirties, twenty-three new colonies were established in Alberta, mostly in the southwest corner of the province.

The Hutterites were again the victims of people's dislike during World War II. Their refusal to join the army upset many of their neighbours, even though many Hutterite men participated in the war effort by working as lumberjacks in the alternative service. Another problem was that the Hutterites would not give money to the "Victory Bond" campaign. Some people thought that the Hutterites were doing their best to expand their farms while other Canadians were giving everything they had to the war effort. The fear of the Hutterites was so strong that some thought that all the land in Alberta would soon be owned by Hutterites. The provincial government tried to ease peoples fears in 1942 with the Land Sales Prohibition Act which stopped the Hutterites from buying any land until the end of the war.

The Hutterites are a very interesting group because of their unique clothing and lifestyle. Unlike other religions, Hutterites are baptized when they are adults. They also use German as their language in church and read only from German sermons written in the 16th century. In this way they hope to keep the religion of their ancestors as pure as possible. One of the major parts of the Hutterite religion is that they believe that those who really have faith in God should be separated from all others, this is the reason Hutterites live together in large communities . They also refuse the fashions and technology of the world outside their colonies. All Hutterite men wear the same black clothes with simple pants, shirts, and jackets much like their ancestors did. They also wear beards after they become married because they believe that the apostles of the early church also wore beards. As well, Hutterite women all wear long skirts, aprons, and head scarves. There are small differences in the clothing of different Hutterite groups (the Dariusleut colonies use hooks and eyes on their coats while the Lehrerleut colonies use buttons), but their style of dress is usually the same. This simple clothing helps to produce a feeling of togetherness among Hutterites, but it also meant to give them a sense of modesty and separation from the outside world. For the same reason, Hutterites don't use many modern conveniences like radios and televisions. They believe that they can only keep the purity of their lifestyle if they don't have the contact with the outside world that radio and television would supply.

One of the most important parts of the Hutterite religion is communal living. This means that all Hutterites live in large groups called colonies where everything is owned by everyone. This means that no one person has a right to any of the group property. Communal living helps the Hutterites to keep them separate from the outside world and stops the greed that they feel comes from private property.

The individual colonies are largely responsible for their own affairs, but there is a larger body, called the Hutterite Brethren Church, which represents all of the different Hutterite colonies. The individual colonies which are made up of about 15 families and about 110 people are led by a council of five or six members. The minister, who is chosen by voting leads the council. The other members are responsible for different parts of the colony’s operations, such as organizing the farm work or the financial affairs of the colony. All adult, male members of the colony are given the opportunity to vote on the major decisions made by the council. Women do not have much to do with the colony's decision-making.

The Hutterite colonies offer little of the freedom that most of us are used to, but they do provide a great deal of security to their members. In this community unemployment and poverty are almost never a problem. There are very few single Hutterites, and divorce is almost unheard of. In the last years of the 20th century it is more difficult than ever for Hutterite communities to maintain their isolation from the outside world; yet they have continued to do well. It is almost certainly the sense of security offered by the colonies that allows the Hutterites of southern Alberta to maintain their unique way of life even today.