The Dariusleut, also Dariusleit, are a branch of the Hutterites that emerged in 1860.

History

Russian Empire

In 1859, Michael Waldner and Jakob Hofer (1830–1900) successfully reestablished a community of goods among some Hutterites in Hutterdorf, Ukraine, then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. This group was named Schmiedeleut. In 1860, another group of Hutterites did the same under the leadership of Darius Walter (1835–1903) also in Hutterdorf, Ukraine, but on the opposite side of the village. This group was called Dariusleut, after the first name of its leader.

America

The Dariusleut left their homes in Ukraine in June 1874 together with the Schmiedeleut. During the first winter, the Dariusleut lived on government grounds at Silver Lake, South Dakota. In 1875, they founded their first colony on American soil, Wolf Creek Hutterite Colony in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

, the mother colony of the Dariusleut. Shortly after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, two Hutterite

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

s, Joseph and Michael Hofer, died in an American prison. This and growing

anti-German sentiment Anti-German sentiment (also known as anti-Germanism, Germanophobia or Teutophobia) is fear or dislike of Germany, its Germans, people, and its Culture of Germany, culture. Its opposite is Germanophile, Germanophilia. Anti-German sentiment main ...

caused the emigration of all six Dariusleut colonies to

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada, in the following years. In the 1930s, the Schmiedeleut started to form new colonies in

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, thus returning to the United States. In 1950, there were 25 Schmiedeleut colonies in Alberta and four in Montana.

Japan

Owa Hutterite Colony, a Hutterite colony of

ethnic An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

Japanese that is affiliated with the Dariusleut, was founded in 1972.Lehr, John C.: ''Owa: a Dariusleut Hutterite colony in Japan'' in Prairie Perspectives: Geographical Essays (Vol: 13), Winnipeg 2010, page 32

References

External links