Hutterites are a communal branch of Anabaptists who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the 16th Century. Originating in the Austrian province of Tyrol, the forerunners of the Hutterites migrated to Moravia to escape persecution. There, under the leadership of Jakob Hutter, they developed the communal form of living based on the Book of Acts, Chapters 2 (especially verse 44), 4, and 5 and 2 Corinthians in the New Testament, which distinguishes them from other Anabaptists.

In Bohemia, the Hutterites flourished for over a century, until renewed persecution forced them once again to migrate, first to Transylvania, then in the early 18th century, to Ukraine in the Russian Empire. Some Hutterites converted to Catholicism and retained a separate ethnic identity in Slovakia as the Habaner through the 19th century. By the end of World War II, this group had become essentially extinct. In Ukraine, the Hutterites enjoyed relative prosperity, although their distinctive communal life was suppressed by the influence of the neighboring Mennonites.

The final great migration occurred as three waves of Hutterite emigrants left for the New World in the 19th Century in response to demands by the Russian

Named for the leaders of each wave, all three of the three groupings (the Schmiedeleut, Dariusleut, and Lehrerleut) settled initially in the Dakota Territory and later two Dariusleut colonies were established in central Montana. Here each group re-established the traditional Hutterite communal life style. For a few years in the early 1950s, and from 1974 to 1990, the Arnoldleut (or Bruderhof Communities) were recognized as Hutterites. Although the majority of Hutterites live in the Midwestern United States and Canada, Hutterite colonies have been established in Nigeria and Japan.

During World War I, the pacifist Hutterites suffered persecution in the United States, resulting in the emigration of 17 of the 18 existing colonies in America to the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta in Canada. In one notable incident, four Hutterite men were imprisoned and ultimately two died from mistreatment. With the passage of laws protecting conscientious objectors, however, some of the Schmiedeleut ultimately returned to the Dakotas beginning in the 1930s.

During World War II, the province of Alberta passed the Communal Properties Act, severely restricting the expansion of the Daruisleut and Lehrerleut colonies. This act resulted in the establishment of a number of new colonies in Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Montana, and eastern Washington State in the 1940s and 1950s. Today approximately one-fourth of the Hutterite colonies are located in the United States and nearly three-fourths are in Canada.

The mid-2004

• Canada (347):
  • Schmiedeleut (Manitoba 105; Alberta 1)
  • Dariusleut (Alberta 109; Saskatchewan 31; British Columbia 2)
  • Lehrerleut (Alberta 69; Saskatchewan 30)
• United States (124)
  • Schmiedeleut (South Dakota 53; North Dakota 7; Minnesota 9)
  • Dariusleut (Montana 15; Washington 5; Oregon 1)
  • Lehrerleut (Montana 34)
• Japan (1)
  • Dariusleut (1)

The Japanese Hutterite community does not consist of Hutterites of European descent, but ethnic Japanese who have adopted the same way of life and are recognized as an official colony. The inhabitants of this colony speak neither English nor German.

The Hutterites practice total community of goods: that is, all property is owned by the church, and individual members and their families are provided for out of the common resources. This practice is based largely on their interpretation of passages in Acts chapters 2, 4 and 5, which speak of the believers "having all things in common."

Hutterite communities, called "colonies", are all rural and many depend largely on farming for their income. Often they own large tracts of land and utilize top-of-the-line farm implements. Some also run state-of-the-art hog, chicken or turkey barns. Hutterites are also venturing into the manufacturing sector.

Each colony consists of a number (10-20) of families, and population ranges from 60 to 150. When a colony's leadership determines that it is economically and spiritually viable, approximately half its members are chosen (usually by lot) to "branch off" and form a new colony. Although Hutterites attempt to remove themselves from the outside world (in the world, but not of the world), many Hutterite homes have computers, radios, and a minority of communities have some sort of filtered internet access (mostly liberal Schmiedeleut colonies). Traditionally, Hutterite children leave school at 15 years of age to fulfill their adult roles in the colony. This practice is still strictly maintained by the Lehrerleut and most of the Dariusleut colonies. However, some young Hutterites, especially among the Schmiedeleut in Manitoba, have graduated from high school and have continued on to attend university; many become teachers for their colony. Brandon University in Brandon, Manitoba, offers a Hutterite Education Program (BUHEP) to Hutterite high school graduates for a portion of the Schmiedeleut.

As with the Amish and Mennonites who often use Pennsylvania German, the Hutterites have preserved a distinctive dialect of German known as Hutterite German.

An article on the Hutterites will appear in the June 2006 issue of National Geograhic.

See also

• Christian anarchism
• Commune (intentional community)
• Pacifism
• Peace church
• Simple living
• Doukhobors

Reference

1.  Hallock, Dan ; Religious Persecution in the Land of the Free, Bruderhoff Communities, retrieved 2006-01-05.
2.  The 2004 Hutterite Phone Book, Canadian Edition, James Valley Colony of Hutterian Brethren: Elie, Manitoba.

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