Family and Kinship

The modern nuclear family in Canada is bombarded with conflicting pressures that often leave it unstable. Individualism has taken a toll; relations between parents and children are strained, and an extended family provides only limited support. Schools and communities are hard pressed to meet increased demands for socialization. The Hutterite colony, in contrast, provides an ordered community with a clear hierarchical structure and an extended family and network of some 75 to 150 people who are committed to mutual support. It ensures a stable upbringing in a socially, emotionally, and economically secure environment. Since the formal communal features of kindergarten and German-language and elementary schools are so pervasive, the family takes a somewhat less central role in the socialization of children.

Few Hutterites remain single; according to an Eaton and Weil study in the 1950s, only 1.9 percent of men and 5.4 percent of women over the age of thirty had never married. Only one divorce and four desertions had been reported since 1875. When the Hutterites left Europe in the 1870s, the 1,265 immigrants represented a fairly small gene pool. Of this group, over half decided to remain non-communal and ceased to be Hutterites. The approximately 500 who continued to live communally divided into three groups of approximately 150 to 200.

Because Hutterites do not intermarry, the gene pools of these groups have shrunk to what some considered dangerous levels. A study based on 95 percent of the entire Hutterite population in Canada and the United States in the 1950s found that five family names – Hofer, Waldner, Wipf, Stahl, and Wurz – accounted for almost two-thirds, or 62 percent (one colony today has only Hofers). Hutterites were healthy, with a less-than-average incidence of mental disorders. Crime, marital separation, and other forms of social disorganization were rare or absent. Some mental illness was observed, but a stable communal existence seemed generally to enhance family life. Marriage within a small gene pool did not appear to pose a problem.

Courtship among Hutterites is usually lengthy, but during this time the young people may see each other infrequently if they live in different colonies. Permission to marry is usually sought from parents and colony councils since the young woman’s colony will lose a member and the man’s gain one. Parents are concerned that their daughters marry into prosperous colonies where the chances of a good life are greater. Weddings are happy occasions for relatives and friends at which acquaintances are renewed and young people court. Several couples may be married at one time, bringing together larger groups of friends and relations. The ceremony is part of the Sunday morning service and generally uneventful, but a special meal is now provided in some colonies. The groom makes few adjustments to married life since he stays in his home colony and continues to work as he did before (although he is now eligible for more responsibility). The bride, on the other hand, leaves her parents, siblings, and her peer group for a new colony. Her work patterns change because she is married and practices vary somewhat from one settlement to another. She has only her husband to turn to for support and must make new acquaintances and form new ties. Some wives, however, are fortunate enough to have relatives in the new colony.

The married couple receives a room with a front entrance if possible and, as the family grows, is given additional space. There is no limit on the number of children a couple may have. Birth control is officially forbidden, although it is occurring to some extent. The pregnant woman wears no special maternity clothes, and pregnancy is generally ignored. Most mothers today give birth in hospitals, whereas in the past they were attended by midwives and babies were born in the colony. Boys are usually named after their father or uncles, and girls after their mother or aunts. Biblical names have traditionally predominated, but there has been considerable change in some colonies and modern names show up, even among young adults. During the first month the mother is free to devote herself to the infant’s care without any obligations in the larger community. After six weeks she returns to help in the kitchen, and, when the baby is three months old, she is once again on the standard work schedule. Privacy is downplayed in Hutterite colonies. Children enter their parents’ room freely, and child rearing is not considered a private matter. Babies accept the attention of anyone in the colony without a fuss. Breastfeeding is the norm and toilet training accomplished by the time that the child can sit. Physical discipline is common. At the age of three the child enters kindergarten and begins the process of being weaned away from the family and introduced to communal life.