The Hutterite women that were so nice to us were Sarah and Elizabeth. Their sister Mary had had a stroke and was in the ICU when Bill was admitted to the hospital. As we were visibility upset and worried, these two women came to us and wrapped us in blankets and offered prayers. Sarah and Elizabeth took it upon themselves to take care of us. They brought us food, held my girls and comforted us with their quiet presence.
Hutterites formed around the same time as the Amish and Mennonites in the early 1500's. Hutterites are named for their founder Jacob Hutter. The Hutterites were brutally persecuted by both Catholics and Protestants and fled Austria for Moravia, Romania, Hungary, and Russia. In the 1870's about 1,300 Hutterites immigrated to South Dakota. The Hutterite people that lived communally thrived until World War 1 when they were harassed for their pacifism. Many of the Hutterite people left their colonies for Canada, now the majority of North America's Hutterites live in Canada. Today Montana has about 50 colonies all east of the Continental Divide.
Women wear long skirts and head scarves in muted colors. The men wear hats, dark pants and suspenders. They eat communally with the men on one side of the dinning room separate from the women. Women do the cooking in large commercial type kitchens.
They speak a mixture of three languages. High German being the most sacred and used during religious services. Daily speech is a Tyrolean dialect influenced by various host countries across the centuries. They also speak fluent English.
Hutterites belong to three subgroups named after 19th century leaders. Montana has just two of these groups. Lehrerieut and Dariusieut. Leut(loyt) means "people". Lehrers have a stricter, more traditional reputation. Darius are more open and flexible. The homes in Darius colonies are less plain than that of the more traditional colonies. They also use computers for business and schools. About 5 to 10 percent of Hutterites leave colonies for the outside world , but fewer that do are Darius probably because they are more flexible. Almost everything in the Hutterites homes are owned by the colony. Colonies are corporations. No one makes a salary or owns a vehicle. The colony reviews request for personal needs case by case, frugality is the rule.
Church service take place on weeknights and Sundays. The churches are plain buildings that also serve as schools. Work is divided into men's work and women's work. Women rotate many task such as canning, baking and cleaning. Men join in on larger projects such as sausage-making and butchering. Women have no say in the in colony affairs or budgets. They will discuss decisions with their husbands and with each other as they work.
After group chores women have free time. Each women sews most of the families clothes. Mothers time with their children is a priority. Unmarried young women fill in on jobs around the colony. New mothers are exempt from communal chores for a time. The colony takes care of the members no matter what.
A council of men makes the colonies decisions. All baptised men vote on larger issues. The men farm, and raise cattle and other livestock. They also do all fabrication and maintenance and repair, they will sometimes do contract work outside the colony. When times are tough colonies will share food at no charge.
Children start work at an early age, but do attend school. There is public school at the colonies, children also attend "German" school before and after English school. Higher education doesn't mesh easily with colony life. People cannot join the Hutterite colonies you must be born into it.
We saw many of these people in the hospital and around town. They sell some of their goods at the local farmers market. They are well known for their bread and other baked goods. The girls and I can attest to the quality of the baked goods as well as some of the canned goods. We would have a box of food dropped off in Bill's room. Sara or Elizabeth would either come into town or if they couldn't come themselves they would send someone to find us. We also had the opportunity to meet some of the men. I thoroughly enjoyed them, the men that I met were very funny. The Hutterite people that we had the opportunity to meet were warm, friendly and very kind. http://www.montanamagazine.com/
