Manitoba Hutterite colonies adjust communal lives as families isolate during COVID-19 pandemic

When Tirzah Maendel and her family went into COVID-19 isolation just over two weeks ago, what they missed the mostwas their close-knit Hutterite community.

"Shame and blame, there is no need for any of that. We're here to help each other," said Maendel, a member of the Baker Hutterite Colony, about 90 minutes west of Winnipeg.

Earlier in August, Maendel's mother tested positive for the novel coronavirusduring a visit to the hospital, something that surprised them all. It was the community's first case.

As a result, Maendel's father and all three daughters also had to get tested, and went into isolation.

"Neither she nor we had any kind of symptoms. It was quite a shock. But we took it seriously," said Maendel, 40.

The community kitchen was shut down and communal meals ended. Most families picked up their meals and took them home to eat. The Maendel family's meals were delivered to them.

Within a few days, the rest of the family all tested negative, but they all stayed in isolation, going on outings together to pass the time.

"We had a day of hiking and biking and I think we ended up doing, what, 66 [kilometres] in a day? There's some local trails down the road off the Highway 34 that we wanted to explore and we made a day of it," she said.

"It was a therapy day for us."

Hutterites are communal and interdependent economically and spiritually. They eat, work and worship together. So one of the hardest parts of isolation was staying away from other family members and children in the colony.

Maendel recalls oneincident in which a child peeked over her gate.

"They just yelled over, 'Do you have COVID at your house?' And I said, 'We do.' And then they yell back, 'We can't come over.'"

Pandemic restrictions have limited gatheringsas well, so while church is a fundamental part of Hutterite identity, for now, most services are piped into people's homes over a PA system.

Many weddings are being postponed. Funerals, usually large inter-community events, are now live streamed, withthousands of people watching them.

While there is mixed opinion on the value of technology, Maendel saidshe hopes Hutterites will keep using it to share big community events because it brings them together.

"What we miss most is the singing," she said. "I find myself listening more to more Hutterite music that I wouldn't have done before."

'Colony social isolation'

Across the western provinces, many Hutterite colonies were able to keep the pandemic at bay for weeks, even months.

"The Hutterite community has the ability to confine the outbreaks to their colonies. They don't interact a great deal with the outside world and it's possible for them to practice colony social isolation in a way that a normal non-Hutterite community couldn't," saidJohn Lehr, a senior scholar at the University of Winnipeg who has written a book, Inside the Ark: The Hutterites in Canada and the United States.

Butit only takes one person and once COVID-19 got into their colonies, it spread like wildfire, leading to unfair stigma and discrimination.

"If they were wearing civilian clothing, so to speak, not Hutterite clothing, they wouldn't be Identifiable and no one would say very much," Lehr said.

"There are some people who are going to buy into the recommendations of the government, and I'm sure some of them will be skeptical, just like in the outside world."

Some believe the outbreaks began in Hutterite communities after three teenage girls drowned in Alberta in June. People from other colonies went to help in the search and to attend the funerals.

David Tschetter, chair of the Hutterian Safety Council, said they are leaving the contact tracing to the professionals but "I do believe just logically that it played a significant part."

Recently, case numbers have begun to stabilize in Alberta and Saskatchewan, which are about a month ahead of Manitoba, Tschetter said.

"The reports that we're getting from the field from the public health agencies is that things are going well. Communities are co-operating. Many of the communities are actually on the back side of their cases and are healing," he said.

Harvest, school could mean more cases

However, he worries the fall harvest will mean an increase in infections again. Traditionally, colonies work together to get their crops off the fields.

"We provide the food and raw products to the community, so there is essential travel back and forth, and that's what makes it difficult."

The return to classesin a few weeks also creates some risk, but Tschetter said his council has a robust back-to-school plan and communities are doing their best to prepare.

WATCH |A video the Hutterian Safety Council has created to encourage mask use:

Hutterites in Manitoba encouraged to stop COVID-19 spread in colonies through mask-wearing in Hutterian Safety Council video

4 years ago

Duration 0:56

With many of the province's COVID-19 cases popping up in colonies, Hutterites in Manitoba are taking steps to stop the illness from spreading. The Hutterian Safety Council made this video to encourage mask use among Hutterites.

Now that she's out of isolation, Tirzah Maendel is back at work, cleaning windows and designing back-to-school posters.

She isa member of a Hutterite Health group that is sharing government public health information online and on social media in a culturally appropriate way.

The group is also distributingpodcastson COVID-19, recordedby the Hutterian Safety Council.

Her message fornon-Hutterite people "We're struggling the same as everybody else in terms of figuring it out. Everybody needs a bit more grace, a bit more understanding. Just be patient," she said.

"We'll get through this, where we're finding hope here as well. Just like everybody."

WATCH |Karen Pauls's report on The National:

One third of Manitoba COVID-19 cases are in Hutterite communities

4 years ago

Duration 2:01

Manitoba continues to experience an uptick in COVID-19 with one third of its active cases in Hutterite colonies. One woman shares her story from inside the community.