American Colony

[SonomaCat]

For those who don't spend as much time with their TV on the odd channels as me and may not have seen it ... this looks like a really interesting series. It's about the colony just outside of Lewistown -- by Moore, I think.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/c ... utterites/

[seacat85]

Grew up near Hutterite colonies in the Golden Triangle and had no idea there were 3 sects. Looking at the clips I would not have guessed that these were Hutterites being interviewed. I'm guessing the colonies I'm familiar with were of the more conservative sect.

[WeedKillinCat]

I have been to a ton of colonies when I worked for a soil/plant testing service. Got to eat losts of different food (chickens feet), and taste some potent home made wine. Some colonies are more conservative than others. But for the most part they were very nice. Got to be good friends with the folks out by Ulm, used to trade them beer/whisky for some wine. They have that huge kitchen and would make huge batches of popcorn, good stuff. But I have to tell you a story. There was this one guy at Birch Creek colony, Eli the chicken man. So one day I had asked him-Hey Eli, how do you kill the chickens...do you choke the chickens...he said no, we just chop their heads off....Ouch....

[RedCat]

some of those clips are hilarious.

That wheel of death looks like quite the invention.

[bobcat99]

I have been to a ton of colonies when I worked for a soil/plant testing service. Got to eat losts of different food (chickens feet), and taste some potent home made wine. Some colonies are more conservative than others. But for the most part they were very nice. Got to be good friends with the folks out by Ulm, used to trade them beer/whisky for some wine. They have that huge kitchen and would make huge batches of popcorn, good stuff. But I have to tell you a story. There was this one guy at Birch Creek colony, Eli the chicken man. So one day I had asked him-Hey Eli, how do you kill the chickens...do you choke the chickens...he said no, we just chop their heads off....Ouch....

Isn't that how all chickens are killed? Just like turkeys...

One of my favorite childhood memories is going to my grandpa's ranch when I was about 6 or 7. He invited a bunch of his grandkids over so we could see him chop a turkeys head off and watch it run around headless. Needless to say, I found it hilarious and still do.

[SonomaCat]

I have been to a ton of colonies when I worked for a soil/plant testing service. Got to eat losts of different food (chickens feet), and taste some potent home made wine. Some colonies are more conservative than others. But for the most part they were very nice. Got to be good friends with the folks out by Ulm, used to trade them beer/whisky for some wine. They have that huge kitchen and would make huge batches of popcorn, good stuff. But I have to tell you a story. There was this one guy at Birch Creek colony, Eli the chicken man. So one day I had asked him-Hey Eli, how do you kill the chickens...do you choke the chickens...he said no, we just chop their heads off....Ouch....

Isn't that how all chickens are killed? Just like turkeys...

If I was reading Weed's post right, there may have been a double entendre in there.

[BelgradeBobcat]

Watching it now. Pretty interesting-even if some of the "scenes" are obviously staged and the Hutterites are generally worse reality TV "actors" than other reality TV "actors". Not knowing much about them at all I'm surprised to see they're a lot more worldly than I thought. That harvest party looks like a heck of a good time.

[WeedKillinCat]

I have been to a ton of colonies when I worked for a soil/plant testing service. Got to eat losts of different food (chickens feet), and taste some potent home made wine. Some colonies are more conservative than others. But for the most part they were very nice. Got to be good friends with the folks out by Ulm, used to trade them beer/whisky for some wine. They have that huge kitchen and would make huge batches of popcorn, good stuff. But I have to tell you a story. There was this one guy at Birch Creek colony, Eli the chicken man. So one day I had asked him-Hey Eli, how do you kill the chickens...do you choke the chickens...he said no, we just chop their heads off....Ouch....

Isn't that how all chickens are killed? Just like turkeys...

If I was reading Weed's post right, there may have been a double entendre in there.

That is correct

On a side note, I watched the show the other night and felt it was a little staged, especially with the wild child daughter.....

[SACCAT]

I have been to a ton of colonies when I worked for a soil/plant testing service. Got to eat losts of different food (chickens feet), and taste some potent home made wine. Some colonies are more conservative than others. But for the most part they were very nice. Got to be good friends with the folks out by Ulm, used to trade them beer/whisky for some wine. They have that huge kitchen and would make huge batches of popcorn, good stuff. But I have to tell you a story. There was this one guy at Birch Creek colony, Eli the chicken man. So one day I had asked him-Hey Eli, how do you kill the chickens...do you choke the chickens...he said no, we just chop their heads off....Ouch....

Isn't that how all chickens are killed? Just like turkeys...

If I was reading Weed's post right, there may have been a double entendre in there.

That is correct

On a side note, I watched the show the other night and felt it was a little staged, especially with the wild child daughter.....

What did she do, turn on a light?

[catamaran]

I have been to a ton of colonies when I worked for a soil/plant testing service. Got to eat losts of different food (chickens feet), and taste some potent home made wine. Some colonies are more conservative than others. But for the most part they were very nice. Got to be good friends with the folks out by Ulm, used to trade them beer/whisky for some wine. They have that huge kitchen and would make huge batches of popcorn, good stuff. But I have to tell you a story. There was this one guy at Birch Creek colony, Eli the chicken man. So one day I had asked him-Hey Eli, how do you kill the chickens...do you choke the chickens...he said no, we just chop their heads off....Ouch....

Isn't that how all chickens are killed? Just like turkeys...

If I was reading Weed's post right, there may have been a double entendre in there.

That is correct

On a side note, I watched the show the other night and felt it was a little staged, especially with the wild child daughter.....

I agree. Everytime the mom tries to do something she looks like she's going to laugh

[SonomaCat]

After having seen the show, and hearing from people around Lewistown about what the elders actually did when they showed up (pulled those kids out of school at Moore, apparently), I'm developing a pretty strong anti-elder complex.

It really bothers me that these people raise these kids in an environment that strongly discourages them from finding their own path in life, and that they even withhold a high school education from them in order to handicap them so that they will be more likely to stay on the colony. Of course, they drill their particular brand of religion into their heads, making sure they aren't exposed to any other views, and the religion probably just so happens to damn them to hell if they disagree with the elders in any way or dare to leave the colony. Convenient, that.

I don't have any great answers to how that change that, but the whole situation really bothers me.

Kudos to the teenagers who have the courage to run away from the colonies. That's all I can say. I don't think those of us raised on the outside can understand how hard it must be for them to make that kind of decision, especially when they have had so little education from which to earn a living.

[SonomaCat]

From what I've gathered in talking to people who know those women (so take it for what it's worth), it is indeed staged (which is probably obvious to everyone who watches it), but the themes and general "plot" are generally accurate. I think they just take things that are actually happening, and then apply the whole "reality show" razzmatazz to it to make it more entertaining/hokey.

[CapitalCityCat]

I don't get the NatGeo channel on our Dish package but I presume I'll be able to watch the episodes once they've aired on tv.

This looks like a fairly interesting read from a Hutterite whose family left their colony in 1969.

http://www.polkadotpress.ca/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We often purchase vegetables, bread, and eggs from the Hutterites at the Farmer's Market. And they make some of the best damn sauerkraut around.

But, whenever I see or think about the Hutterites, I can't help but visualize the Weird Al song, "Amish Paradise"