Ever since I reviewed Gentle People, I’ve been meaning to read more about the Hutterites. That book, as I wrote before, made me realize how little I knew about Hutterite culture, but it didn’t answer nearly all the questions I had.
I criticized Gentle People for focusing too much on dry data, and not going much into people’s daily lives. I Am Hutterite is exactly the opposite. It reads like a novel, and there isn’t a chart or graph to be found. The author, Mary-Ann Kirkby, grew up in a Hutterite family, and this book is a memoir of the time she spent growing up there, and her struggle to adjust to the outside world.
The events in the beginning take place years before Kirkby is even born, but even here, Kirkby sacrifices strict factual accuracy for the sake of a good story. She writes as if the whole book was a novel, and often gives elaborate details that she would have no way of knowing. How, for example, does she know that there was a red ant crawling across her mother’s bedspread while she was reading a stern letter from her future husband? Or what the colony gossips said when her mother shared a bowl of fruit with a neighbor?
I do not mean this as a criticism; on the contrary, I thought Kirkby’s style was refreshing, and it was certainly more engaging to read than a dry family history would be. (I cannot imagine the mental effort it would take to keep track the family relationships here. If this book is any indication, Hutterite family trees are far larger and more complicated than a typical “English” family. I completely gave up on trying to remember who moved to which colony, and why.)
For Kirkby, life on the colony was the only life she knew for a long time, and that is both a blessing and a curse in this book. She talks about her childhood as if this was the only normal way to grow up, which I appreciated. On the other hand, there are questions I have as an outsider which Kirkby does not seem to anticipate. How often do the bells ring on the colony? If everything is shared, how do Hutterites define stealing? How many leadership positions are there in the colony? Etc.
To those who grew up in a Hutterite colony, the “English” world outside was every bit as exotic as Hutterite colonies are to us. The English teacher at the Hutterite school was the only regular contact children had with an outsider, and the girls struggled to wrap their minds around pantyhose and high-heeled shoes. For the Hutterites, utility trumped style any day.
Overall, I thought this was an enjoyable, engaging read. I would recommend it to anyone who’s curious about Hutterite life.
Title: I Am Hutterite
Author: Mary-Ann Kirkby
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Pages: 224
Mary Ann: an expert on Hutterite life??
The Dorn family left a Hutterite colony when Mary Ann was 10 years old. Mary Ann authored a book about her parents’ story while in the colony and her own brief 10 year experience as a Hutterite and her struggle to adapt to the outside world. She claims to be qualified expert and authority on Hutterite life.
After I read her book and personally experienced life as a Hutterite for 22 years my question begs an answer of truthful honesty before the Lord?
“Is it possible Mary Ann could feasibly know what it’s like to be a Hutterite when her meager basis and foundation is limited to only 10 years?”
A child’s perspective differs greatly from that of a mature adult. A 10 year old child is not equipped or able to adequately accept the natural responsibility of an adult. It has been proven to be advantageous that a child would thrive in a generally carefree life surrounded by boundaries of loving disciplines.
At age 15 a Hutterite is considered an adult. At that point Maryann would have been thrust into a burdensome environment heavily centered around work with little time left for personal, emotional, and physical development in God’s purpose for her life. She would have begun to experience the pressure to conform, the restrictions on personality, and the general injustice and negative atmosphere.
Mary Ann’s written account of her parent’s experiences is monumental proof of that. Her parents were used, treated unfairly, and oppressed by the leadership in the colony. According to Mary Ann’s own admission one of her immediate family members died due the Hutterite leader stubbornly forbidding her parents from going to the hospital and signing papers to save the child’s life. Why does she overtly contradict her parent’s struggles by fantasizing about her seemingly wonderful experience as a child to reach the false conclusion that the Hutterite colony is a safe place and a beautiful way of life?
It may seem quite obvious, but is she trying to financially capitalize on people’s ignorance? The general populous has been purposely kept in the dark of the inner workings within a Hutterite Colony. For those who have never known of the Hutterites it is high time to make known the Hutterite’s true motives. For those who have heard and would take interest let it be known that the Hutterites grossly misrepresent themselves as zealous followers of Jesus Christ.
I have to wonder: “If Hutterite life is so grand, then why isn’t Mary Ann living in a Hutterite Colony today?” Is it that she doesn’t want to give up her God-given freedoms she enjoys to go under the oppressive lifestyle that her parents left?
The title of her book is “I am Hutterite”. What does that mean to her? Does she have her own vehicle or vehicles and have her own house? Does she have a career of her own choice? Does she make her own personal money and get to spend it the way she wants? Does she raise her child the way she desires? If she does these things then she is not a Hutterite!
Does her fantasy colony demand that she butcher chickens? Does she wear a homemade dress and headcovering? Does she go to a Hutterite church every day? Does she speak hutterish fluently? Was she baptized as a Hutterite? Did she marry an “English man”? Does she have her own bank account? Did the Hutterites give her permission to write a book and do the proceeds for the sale of her book go to her Hutterite colony?
If she would be permitted to join a Hutterite colony she would be stripped of all her rights and freedoms. Yet she turns around and tells us to live as a Hutterite is positive.
That’s easy to say when you are enjoying your freedoms and ignoring the people that are still stuck inside with no other option but to continue in that lifestyle.
Go back to the colony Mary Ann; live there for a few years (if you can take it that long) and then I would definitely read your next book, “I am not Hutterite”.
I most certainly will not condone the first book as written in truth. As far as I know the stories are not in error but the conclusions drawn from the book are fallacy. I will pray for you and that the second book “I am not Hutterite” would shine the light to people in darkness and God would use you as a deliverer.
Thanks for the comment! It’s great to hear the perspective of another ex-Hutterite. As someone who has never lived in a colony (and only visited once), I thought this book provided some fascinating insights. However, you make an excellent point when you say that a child’s perpective is not necessarily complete. And yes, it may have glossed over some of the problems in the colony. Do you happen to know of any books written from an adult Hutterite’s perspective? If so, I’d love to check them out.