Rainbow Gathering

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Rainbow Gatherings are temporary intentional communities, typically held in outdoor settings, and espousing and practicing ideals of peace, love, harmony, freedom and community, as a consciously expressed alternative to mainstream popular culture, consumerism, capitalism and mass media.

Rainbow Gatherings and the "Rainbow Family of Living Light" are an expression of a Utopian impulse, combined with bohemianism and hippie culture, with roots clearly traceable to the 1960s counterculture. Mainstream society is viewed as "Babylon," connoting the participants' widely held belief that modern lifestyles and systems of government are unhealthy and out of harmony with the natural systems of planet Earth.

The original Rainbow Gathering was in 1972, and has been held annually in the United States from July 1 - 7 every year on National Forest land. Other regional and national gatherings are held throughout the year, in the United States and throughout the rest of the world.

The largest Rainbow Gatherings pose significant logistical challenges, providing up to 30,000 people with food, water, sanitation, medical care, and order in remote settings. Relations with law enforcement and local communities are frequently at issue. Media coverage is often unfavorable, focusing on drug use, nudity, and the countercultural aspects of the assemblage. Nevertheless, the Gatherings have proven durable phenomena for 36 years.^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Social aspects 2.1 Values 2.2 Non-Commercialism 2.3 Consensus process 2.4 Creativity and Spirituality 3 Gathering logistics 3.1 Camps and Kitchens 3.2 Water and Sanitation 3.3 C.A.L.M. 3.4 Shanti Sena 4 Difficulties and criticisms 4.1 Relations with law enforcement 4.2 Drugs and Alcohol 4.3 Confusion over Hopi Legend 5 Gatherings outside the United States 5.1 European Gatherings 5.2 World Gatherings 6 List of Gatherings 6.1 United States Annual Rainbow Gatherings 6.2 The European Gatherings 6.3 World Gatherings 6.4 World Healing Gatherings 7 Further Reading 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

[edit] History

The first Rainbow gathering, a four-day event in Colorado in 1972, was organized by youth counterculture "tribes" based in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. Twenty thousand people faced police roadblocks, threatening civil disobedience, and were allowed onto National Forest land. This was intended to be a onetime event; however, a second gathering in Wyoming the following year materialized at which point an annual event was declared. The length of the gatherings has since expanded beyond the original four-day span as have the number and frequency of the gatherings.^[2] ,[2]

[edit] Social aspects

[edit] Values

The Rainbow Family has no leaders, no structure, no official spokespersons, no official documents, and no membership. Documents are produced as needed and maintained by various groups, and certain themes are consistently seen in this Rainbow literature: [3], [4], [5]

• Love
• Peace
• Non-violence
• Environmentalism
• Non-consumerism and non-commercialism
• Volunteerism
• Respect for others
• Consensus process
• Diversity

[edit] Non-Commercialism

As Michael Niman notes, "Rainbow Gatherings, as a matter of principle, are free and non-commercial." Using money to buy or sell anything at Rainbow Gatherings is taboo. There are no paid organizers, although there are volunteers ("focalizers") who are crucial to setting up the gathering site. Participants are expected to contribute money, labor, and/or material. All labor is voluntary and never formally compensated.

Aside from taking up collections (the "Magic Hat" in Rainbow parlance) for essential items purchased from the local community, there is little or no exchange of currency internally at a Gathering. The primary principle is that necessities should be freely shared, while luxuries can be traded. A designated "trading circle" is a feature at most (if not all) Gatherings. Frequently traded items include sweets ("zuzus"), crystals, and handcrafts. Snickers bars have emerged as a semi-standardized unit of exchange at some gatherings.^[3]

[edit] Consensus process

Gatherings are governed by councils, which use consensus process for making decisions. According to the Mini-manual, "Recognized Rainbow rules come from only one source, main Counsel at the annual national gatherings."[6]

Talking circles are also a feature of rainbow gatherings. Each participant in the circle talks in turn, all the others present listening in silence. A ceremonial stick or feather is passed from person to person around the circle to mark their role as the speaker. If they don't wish to speak, they may hold or pass the stick in silence.^[4]

[edit] Creativity and Spirituality

One of the central features of the annual United States gathering is silent meditation the morning of the Fourth of July, with attendees gathering in a circle in the Main Meadow. At noon the entire assembly begins a collective "Ohhmmm" which is ended with whooping and a celebration. A parade of children comes from the Kiddie Village, singing and dancing into the middle of the circle.^[5]

The gathering's greeting to new arrivals is "Welcome Home!" and "We Love You!" Many spiritual traditions are represented, often with their own kitchen, from Hare Krishnas to Orthodox Jews to many varieties of Christianity and much more.^[6]

Creative events may include variety shows, campfire singing, fire-juggling, and large or small art projects. At one gathering, a cable car was rigged to carry groups of four at speed across a meadow. Faerie Camp was "alive with hundreds of bells and oddly illuminated objects." Musicians and music pervade all Gatherings, at kitchens, on the trails, and at campfires.^[7]

[edit] Gathering logistics

The annual U.S. Rainbow Gathering can attract as many as 30,000 people. Regional Rainbow gatherings can attract as many as 5,000.^[8] The U.S. national gathering centers around July 1-7th, but people come up to a month earlier to help set up (this is known as "Seed Camp") and remain on site up to a month later to participate in clean up and perform ecosystem restorations.^[9]

Although each event is more or less anarchic, practical guidelines have been reached through the consensus process and are documented in the Mini-manual. Items which are strongly discouraged at gatherings include firearms and alcohol. Other items are also discouraged including radios, tape players, sound amplifiers, and power tools.[7]

[edit] Camps and Kitchens

Camps and kitchens are the basic community units of the Gathering. Camps may be based on regional, spiritual, or even dietary commonalities. For example, Kid Village attracts attendees with children. Brew-Ha-Ha specializes in serving herbal teas in a drug-free/smoke-free environment. Bread of Life Camp promotes Christianity.

Not all camps are kitchens, but all kitchens are camps. In addition to feeding passers-by, kitchens send food to the two large communal vegetarian meals served daily in the main meadow.^[10]

[edit] Water and Sanitation

Drinking water is filtered at gatherings, both by small pump filters and large gravity-feed devices. Attendees are encouraged also to boil drinking water. Water is often tapped at a source (such as a spring or stream) and run hundreds of yards to main kitchens in the gathering via plastic hosing.

Sanitation has historically been a major concern at Rainbow Gatherings. Human waste is deposited in latrine trenches and treated with lime and ash from campfires. New latrines are dug and filled in daily. The 1987 gathering in North Carolina experienced an outbreak of highly contagious shigellosis (a.k.a dysentery) (known at the gathering as Beaver Fever) causing diarrhea.^[11] The 1996 Gathering in Missouri also had a large outbreak, reportedly of shigellosis. The source was rumored to be animal waste pollution in the creek which ran along the site.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] C.A.L.M.

C.A.L.M., or the Center for Alternative Living Medicine, is the primary group of healers at Rainbow Gatherings who take responsibility for the health, wellness, medical emergencies and sanitation of those who attend these large gatherings.[8] It is an all volunteer, non-hierarchical group encompassing both mainstream, conventional medicine and alternative medicine, such as naturopathic healing modalities. It is common to find physicians working with herbalists, EMTs helping massage therapists and naturopaths coordinating with Registered Nurses on patient care. C.A.L.M. works closely with Shanti Sena, as they are often the first on the scene in a crisis. There is usually one main C.A.L.M. camp near the inner part of the gatherings and smaller first aid stations set up around the Gatherings. Even those without medical experience are encouraged to help with things such as procuring water and cooking for the healers, who are often too busy to attend main circle or visit other kitchens. In case of any emergency CALM can be contacted on FRS Channel 3 (no tones, 462.6125 MHz UHF) and other site-specific radio frequencies.

[edit] Shanti Sena

Within the Rainbow Gathering, security, conflict resolution, and emergency situations are handled by the Shanti Sena ("Peace Keepers").

While some individuals make serving as Shanti Sena a personal priority, everyone present at the gathering is encouraged to be prepared to assume the role of Shanti Sena as the need arises. Although lacking formal organization, experienced volunteers of the active Shanti Sena sometimes employ methods to maximize their effectiveness (these include, but are not limited to the use of amateur radio, FRS Radio and GMRS Radio Repeaters, to improve communication, networking, and mobility) both individually and as a group. [9] [10]

Hypothetically, anyone at a Rainbow Gathering can call out "Shanti Sena!" (instead of the more widely recognized "Help!") and swiftly receive assistance from those nearby who are ready and willing to deal with the given situation.

Shanti Sena also sometimes act as liaisons to observers and law enforcement officers who patrol the Rainbow Gathering, often tracking the movements of police and park rangers through the gathering, and overseeing the interactions between officers and people attending the gathering to ensure that neither group instigates or takes part in illegal or inflammatory confrontations. In some particularly serious situations, Shanti Sena have collaborated with law enforcement officers (although without violating the Gathering's principle of consensus).^[12] For example, a wanted murder suspect and gathering regular, Joseph Geibel, was peacefully approached by Shanti Sena and transferred to police custody at the 1998 gathering.^[13], [11].

[edit] Difficulties and criticisms

Difficulties include:

• The often unacknowledged class and power structures of the Rainbow community and its events.^[14]
• The phenomenon of "Drainbows"—individuals who are perceived to not give sufficiently of their labor or other resources for the common good, but rather are only consuming the social benefits a Rainbow gathering offers (a classic cooperation problem).^[15]
• Relationships with both the Forest Service as well as local communities and other stakeholders in National Forest lands (both commercial interests as well as local environmentalists, who are often concerned about Gathering impacts).^[16]
• Criticism by local communities and news media for the culture of drug use at Gatherings.

[edit] Relations with law enforcement

All major American Gatherings are held on National Forest land, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Forest Service, a federal agency. The Forest Service has often tried to prevent these gatherings from taking place or insisted that a group-use permit be signed, contending that this is standard practice for large groups wishing to camp on public land and that it is necessary to protect public safety and the local environment. Gathering organizers generally contend that the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights give them the right to peaceably assemble on public land and that requiring a permit would violate that basic right by turning it into a privilege to be regulated. (The Gatherings did attempt to initially work within the permit system starting in 1976, but found the government-imposed requirements for facilities and insurance too onerous.)

The U.S. government will sometimes treat a given individual as a representative of the Gathering (e.g., to sign a permit), however, this is in violation of the well-established Rainbow principle that "no individual may officially represent the Family as a whole." A number of court cases have resulted from both Forest Service prosecutions and Rainbow Family-inspired legal actions against enforcement activities; the Forest Service found itself rebuffed by the judge in a defendant class suit originating from the 1987 North Carolina gathering, among other defeats.^[17]

A notable account of Gathering relations with law enforcement, Judge Dave and the Rainbow People, was written by U.S. Federal Judge David Sentelle. The book provides a first hand account of Sentelle's role in presiding over the 1987 case brought by the State of North Carolina in an attempt to stop the Gathering, including site visits to the Gathering and related legal actions. Garrick Beck, an active Rainbow Family member and protagonist of the 1987 case, wrote an afterword to the book in which he expresses agreement with Sentelle's characterizations.^[18]

The Forest Service has dealt with the scale of the US Annual Rainbow Gathering in the past by assigning a Type 2 National Incident Management Team (NIMT). Around 40 personnel from the NIMT have been assigned in the past, including NIMT members, Forest Service law enforcement officers (LEOs) and resource advisors. Because the Rainbow Gathering utilizes the land without required consent from the Forest Service, the gatherings are given special attention, as under current Forestry rules and regulations they occur illegally and may not take required health codes into account. [12].

In 2005 (West Virginia), an "individual permit was issued for the purpose of conducting a noncommercial group use event on the Gauley Ranger District of the Monongahela National Forest.". This came after the Incident management Team raided water systems and blocked roads illegally forcing a changing of sites.(someone can fix this http://www.welcomehome.org/rainbow/sites/wva-2005/permit-bs/noncomply-20050702.html http://rainbowguide.info/Gathering2005.php)

An individual's application for a permit for the 2006 United States Annual Gathering was denied. The reasons for denial where that there was "inadequate ingress/egress in case of a large fire" and that a permit would "conflict with existing uses for businesses that have Priority Permits and have activities planned in the area". The Gathering elected to take place without the permit. Three "incidents involving aggressive actions toward Forest Service personnel" were reported in a Forest Service press release of June 29, as were two arrests for assault on Forest Service personnel. Additionally the NIMT issued a total of 218 citations for violation of federal regulations. [13]

[edit] Drugs and Alcohol

Allegations of widespread drug abuse are common in media coverage and Government portrayals of the Gathering. Gathering organizers point to the fact that actual seizures and arrests are proportionate to any city of similar size. Although few arrests are made (largely due to the peaceful conduct and remote placement of gatherings) the use of certain "soft" or spiritual drugs is accepted. Examples of such drugs would be Cannabis, Peyote, LSD, and Mushrooms. Hard drug use is widely discouraged.

Alcohol is frowned upon at the gatherings. A distinguishing characteristic of the U.S. national gatherings is "A-Camp," (meaning "alcohol camp") typically located near the front gate, where those who want to drink alcohol can stay. Gatherings in Europe do not have "A-Camps." Some gatherings in Canada have "A-Camps" and some do not. Wine is tolerated in moderation at some European gatherings, particularly in France, where it is customary to drink wine with the evening meal.^[19]

[edit] Confusion over Hopi Legend

There has been a longstanding Rainbow rumor that the gathering was/is recognized by the elders of the Hopi people as the fulfillment of a Hopi prophecy. This was 'debunked' by Michael I. Niman in his 1996 People of the Rainbow: A Nomadic Utopia.^[20] Niman traced the supposed Hopi prophecies to the 1962 book Warriors of the Rainbow by William Willoya and Vinson Brown, which compares prophecy of major religious sects throughout the world and tales of visions from North American natives.^[21]

A portion of the legend erroneously attributed to the Hopi states: 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

[edit] Gatherings outside the United States

Sizable gatherings are routinely held all over the world, in such places as many countries of Europe and Americas, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Turkey and India.

[edit] European Gatherings

Many European countries host their own national gathering. In addition to these is an annual European gathering. The first European Rainbow gathering was held in 1983 in a Ticino valley (Val Campo), Switzerland. The 2007 European gathering was held in Bosnia.

[edit] World Gatherings

World Gatherings have been held in Australia, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Turkey and Thailand. The 2000 World Gathering in Australia, held on farmland in Boonoo Boonoo State Forest, northern New South Wales, attracted 3000 people at full moon. The last world gathering was in Thailand in 2006. There has also been one in Russia for years.

[edit] List of Gatherings

[edit] United States Annual Rainbow Gatherings

[edit] The European Gatherings

[edit] World Gatherings

• 1993 Israel
• 2000 Australia
• 2001 Zimbabwe (on the path of the solar eclipse)
• 2003 Brazil
• 2004 Mexico: Spring Equinox Global Rainbow Gathering of the Tribes - La Paz, Baja California Sur
• 2004 Costa Rica
• 2004 Quebec, Canada (Turtle Island Gathering)
• 2005 Turkey
• 2006 Thailand
• 2008 China
• 2008 Mexico - Second Global Rainbow Gathering of the Tribes, Nov. 1-30 in La Paz, Baja California Sur.

[edit] World Healing Gatherings

• 2006 Egypt (Sinai)
• 2008 Japan

[edit] Further Reading

• Niman, Michael I. People of the Rainbow. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1997.

[edit] See also

• Judge Dave and the Rainbow People
• 1960s
• Nambassa
• Bohemianism
• Burning Man
• Counterculture
• EcoCommunalism
• Hippie
• Hipster
• Rainbow Family
• Utopian

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Rainbow Family of Living Light Unofficial Home Page (oldest on net)
• High Times Magazine A Gathering For All People: 20 Years of Rainbow July, 1991 by Garrick Beck
• alt.gathering.rainbow, Rainbow Usenet group
• photographs of the California 2004 Gathering
• Russian Rainbow Family