THE ALBERTA HUTTERITES.

I went on a tour to the “Wilson Hutterite Colony” south of Coaldale, Alberta - - sponsored by the Lethbridge Galt Museum - and learned that The Hutterites have not changed their lifestyle much in 491 years.

The first thing you get to view when you arrive to the colony which consist of 107 members, is their kindergarten.

I had to shake my head and tell myself that I was NOT dreaming when I was standing in front of a group the cutest little innocent looking kids that was dressed like “miniature” Hutterite men and women.

The little boys had the same hats as the adult man wear and the girls their little polka dotted scarves that only show the pretty little braid on their forehead.

You realized that they were as exited to view “those strange looking adults” as we were to view them.”  Their like cute healthy-looking faces were beaming.

The little children sang two songs in English that they learn in kindergarten. At home they speak High German – from the Bavaria area -The children learn English in kindergarten and school. You could tell they have a little accent.

HOUSING AND NUMBERS

The Hutterites have not changed their lifestyle much since the hatmaker Jacob Hutter – started the Hutterite colony lifestyle 1528 in Moravia, Czechoslovakia.

photo of Jacob Hutter

Each family have their own place to live on the colony. Some families have their own house, whereas some houses have more than one apartment.

There are about 180 Hutterite colonies with approx. 16.000 people in Alberta.

For many years the Hutterites fled from place to place. First from Moravia to Germany, then to Russia then to North and South Dakota in the United states and then to Canada.

In most cases they moved because they did not want to go to War – like the Jehova Witnesses”.

MARRIAGE

The Hutterites marry to somebody either within the same colony or to somebody from another colony.

Many Hutterites don’t marry anymore to control inbreeding. As a matter of fact, the two women who were our tour guides were not married.

If a colony get to the number of 144, the rule is that the colony will have to break up to two colonies, which mean acquiring new land and many times acquiring new land can be a huge problem.

THE WORLD COULD FALL APART AND THE HUTTERITES WOULD BASICALLY BE OK

If there were a major disaster in Lethbridge tomorrow, the grocery stores quite likely would be empty in one hour.  Most people – unless they believe in food storage and emergency supplies like the members of ”The Church Of Jesus Christ members do – they would suffer and would want to turn to neighbors and the Government for help.

The “The Church Of Jesus Christ” members – also nicknamed “Mormons” lived a somewhat similar lifestyle for many years that was called “the United Order” under their leader Joseph Smith and later Brigham Young,   where everybody brought their goods to the “storehouse” and then in return got what they needed for their families.

The church stopped living that lifestyle, because The US Congress used this practice to delay granting land ownership to the LDS members when they migrated to Utah. Nevertheless, Utah still have some physical memories of that lifestyle in f. example the name of the town “Orderville”.

After what I viewed at the Wilson Hutterite colony, I made the conclusion that If a major disaster happened in Alberta tomorrow the Hutterites would properly not only be ok for a very long time, but it is quite likely that many people would turn to the Hutterites for help.

THE HUTTERITES ARE EXTREMELY SELFSUFICIENT

The Wilson colony in Alberta has its own shoe and boot making workshop and one could see that the old European trades were handed down as we watched them “right there under your nose”.

They make their own clocks and brooms.  They have their own car-repair shop and car wash and many other things that make them totally self-sufficient.

The Hutterites have their own cows, lambs and chickens and their own slaughterhouse. They grow not only their own grain and crops but produce a lot own of “the local grown” vegetable sold at the local markets.

Everything on the colony is modern and up-to-date.  The only thing that looked “old fashioned” was their incinerators where they burn garbage. It stuck out like a sore thumb.

HUTTERITE MEALS

We were invited for a good old-fashioned German lunch with mashed potatoes, sausages, fresh cooked home grown beet and a delicious carrot cake.

The Hutterites eat together. The kindergarten children – age 3-6 eat – get their breakfast and lunch at the kindergarten. They are there all day while the parents work. They even have a little “nap room”.

When the children start school – on the Colony – at the age of six- they eat breakfast and lunch in a separate room from the adult’s “food” room.

The Adults all eat breakfast and lunch together in a “common food room”.  The women on one side and the men on the other side. They eat their evening meal “at home”.

The meals are all prepared in huge modern kitchens. As a matter of fact, the Hutterites have modern equipment’s everywhere.

THE HUTTERITE RELIGION

I asked one of the tour guides if they believe in Jesus Christ. She got very emotionally and told me that Christ is the center of their religion. While we were sharing a wonderful lunch with the Hutterites, some of the women and children sang to religious songs for us. Some of the words were “He is beside us” – He is inside us”.

The Hutterites are Anabaptists which means that they do not believe in christening or baptizing children.  One must be an adult to be baptized, so one can choose for themselves.

I really enjoyed my visit to the Wilson Hutterite Colony and would take the opportunity to back and learn more about their unusual lifestyle. One could feel that their faith is a huge part of their lives.

Vibeke Lindhardt

12 September 2019

vibekesonja.blogspot.com

Note: The Wilson Colony is a very conservative colony and we were told that we could not take photos of people, only “some” of the places.

Therefore, any photos in this article of “Albert Hutterite people” are NOT from the Wilson Colony, but photos that got permission to take at the Lethbridge Farmers Market.