LITR 5737: Literary & Historical Utopias
Historical Presentation 2007
Tuesday, 26 June:
Historical presentation: Donny Wankan: Rainbow Gatherings
The Temporary Rainbow: A Week in Utopia
When the earth is ravaged and the animals are dying, a new tribe of people shall come unto the earth from many colors, classes, creeds, and who by their actions and deeds shall make the earth green again. They will be known as the warriors of the Rainbow -- Old Native American Prophecy (WelcomeHome.org).
The Rainbow Gatherings are a temporary intentional community, which happen several times yearly in national parks. They idealize environmental concerns, cooperative social operation, and Pre-American Native lifestyles. The gatherings are arranged by the Rainbow Family, a (self-proclaimed) non-organized organization. They last for about a week, but take as much as a month in preparation deconstruction/cleanup. Modeled after somewhat Hippie-ish utopian ideals, they have been happening since the early 1970's.
As temporary intentional communities, they offer a different way of looking at the idea of Utopia.
Earth Friendly, Mostly
The Gatherings operate under the “pack-in and pack-out” idea, meaning that recycling, trash pick-up, and post-gathering clean up are considered essential parts of the process. After the gathering is over, a group of people stay behind and clean up, and ecological restoration work is done. According to the Mini-Manual, a “rule book” for the gatherings:
Campsites are dismantled and "disappeared". Paths are broken up and bare spots re-seeded. Potential erosion is banked and trees planted. In a year's time you won't be able to tell that a small township of people had lived here for weeks! In all things we walk lightly on the land.
According to Carla, a 13-time Gathering participant I spoke to, the Forest Service works with the Gatherings on preventing ecological destruction, and reducing the impact on the area. Never-theless, sometimes the Forest Service and local populations resist the Gatherings or resent the footprint of a thousands strong camping expedition, because the impact cannot be completely prevented.
Collectivist Vacation
The use of money is discouraged, or taboo, as are alcohol, hard drugs, radios, and weapons. The working of economic aspects of life in the gatherings is carried out by bartering, trading, giving and taking what is needed. Trade circles are a sort of market where participants will gather and lay out items for trade on blankets.
The planning, infrastructure, the kitchens, which provide free food, water filtering, ditch-digging and liming for human waste, and many other necessary jobs are carried out by volunteers, like the man above who is working on mud and tin ovens, which one of the many kitchens will use to cook.
There is one use for money in the camp, though. At certain large meals, a thing called the Magic Hat will be passed around, to collect donations. This money is used to buy food and supplies, and to help pay for the clean up.
The “rules”, or perhaps a more accurate term would be social norms, are also modeled after a cooperative ideal. The “Mini Manual” states on several points that a given item is discouraged rather than forbidden (my paraphrase). Instead it is asked that participants respect the consensus that has been reached about these matters. When someone has breeched etiquette, they are asked to change their behavior.
The Shakti Sena is a sort of police force, though Gathering enthusiasts would argue on the wording, since these are not armed law enforcers but peace keeping volunteers whose job it is to protect the Gathering from conflict. Their only weapons are walkie-talkies, and my informant told me these were usually veterans of the events. They also tend to use gentle encouragements and requests rather than intimidation or violence.
Pre-American Folklore/Myth
Prophecies: According to some accounts, several Pre-American cultures had prophesied the arrival of a group called "the Rainbow People" (see quote at top). This legend is probably false, but it features on several of the websites, and photos of the Gatherings often feature prominent "tipi" type shelters in their backgrounds. Perhaps cliche and a bit naive in its over-symbolization, the Rainbow Gatherings carry a spirit of the "Mystic Indian," at one with nature and wise beyond Western understanding. By connnecting to the prophecies, some participants might feel a sense of theological empowerment. At any rate, it does contain a sense of millennialism, with the Rainbow Gathering lifestyle a mark of an ecological rebirth, or a new direction for humanity.
No Representation, No Problem
I found the following statement at the Rainbow Guide Website: "The Rainbow Guide is an effort of individuals and in no way represents the Rainbow Family of Living Light or any particular entities." According to the traditions of both the Rainbow Gatherings and the Rainbow Family, no one person or group actually represents the organization or event. This has stymied attempts to convict the organization on various charges brought against them.
The National Parks Department and other law enforcement agencies have repeatedly tried to convict and/or prevent the Gatherings on grounds of holding the events without official permits, but since the organization, operation, and control of the event is never officially documented and therefore in no way official at all, the lawsuits and cases against the Rainbow Gatherings have almost all been unsuccessful.
On a similar note, the participants work together to prevent drug busts and other legal hassles by calling out, "Guns in the church!" on seeing law enforcement moving through the camp. This cry is echoed throughout the various crowds in the Gathering, giving anyone a fair chance to put out the joint, or whatever the case may be, well before discovery by the police or park rangers.
The Fourth of July: Prayer and Parade
The national Gathering, held every year the week leading up to July 4th, culminates in a morning of prayer, a silent several hours occupied by meditation on and prayers for world peace, which is ended by a parade led up by the children of the festival, who have been preparing with the help of parents and volunteers while the other adults were in prayer. The parade acts as a cathartic release of the morning's solemn observance, and with the children in the lead, the Gathering wraps up with a playful afternoon of singing, dancing, and light-hearted fun.
Interesting Quotes from Carla
There is an atmosphere there that gives permission.
It's all volunteers and all spontaneous.
The attitude is open and people are speaking their minds.
You go to be healed and to express yourself.
One week makes it work.
When you go back home you have to close back in; you can't just share everything anymore.
Objectives
3a. If Utopias all eventually fail, does it stop people from imagining or attempting them?
3d. In postmodern history, is the utopian impulse extinct? Can utopian ideals survive the postmodern universal of irony?
3f. What social structures, units, or identities does utopia expose or frustrate?
3g. Does a utopia stop time, as with the millennial rapture or an idea of perfection? Or can utopias change, evolve, and adapt to the changes of history?
Questions
Does the temporary nature of this utopia acknowledge that, sustained, this type of life might eventually fail?
Is it a utopia at all, or is it just a week-long wilderness retreat?
Why might Rainbow Gatherings not transform into something permanent like a collective farm? Why would people only want a week-long experience of collective (Utopian) living?
Sources/Weblinks
Unofficial Site of the Rainbow Family of Living Light
Really the official site, but nobody will admit it. Has pictures, links, and a great overview of the ideas and practices of the Family and the Gatherings.
Another, similar, non-representative source.
The Rainbow Gathering Mini Manual
The official/unofficial rule and regulation document for the Rainbow Gatherings.
Photos of various Rainbow Gatherings. Careful; these people don't all wear clothes.
Links to videos from news reports and first hand recordings of the Gatherings, and a radio station player circulating such Rainbow Gathering hits as, "Love Love Love Love," "There is a Rainbow," and "Live Your Heartsong."