Hutterites are a communal branch of Anabaptists who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the 16th century.

History
Hutterite communities, called "colonies", are all rural; many depend largely on farming or ranching, depending on their locale, for their income. More and more colonies are getting into manufacturing as its gets harder to make a living on farming alone. The colony is virtually or literally self-sufficient, constructing its own buildings, doing its own maintenance and repair on equipment, making its own clothes, etc.

Society
Hutterite colonies are male-managed with women participating in stereotypically feminine roles such as cooking, medical decisions and selection and purchase of fabric for clothing. The colony's manager is the Minister, with his wife holding the title of Schneider (from German "tailor"), thus she is in charge of clothing making or purchasing.

Governance
Hutterites practice a near-total community of goods: all property is owned by the colony, and provisions for individual members and their families come from the common resources. This practice is based largely on Hutterite interpretation of passages in chapters 2, 4, and 5 of Acts, which speak of the believers "having all things in common". Thus the colony owns and operates its buildings and equipment like a corporation. Housing units are built and assigned to individual families but belong to the colony and there is very little personal property. Meals are taken by the entire colony in a common long room.
Hutterites say that in their entire five-century history there have been two murders and one suicide. Young Hutterite men often leave their colony upon reaching adulthood to try life in the outside world. The vast majority (according to one Minister, 80 percent) return disillusioned by the harsh, cold speed of the modern world and are welcomed back to the colony.

Community ownership
Each colony consists of about 10 to 20 families, with a population of around 60 to 150. When the colony's population grows near the upper figure and its leadership determines that branching off is economically and spiritually necessary, they locate, purchase land for, and build a "daughter" colony. When the new colony is complete and ready for habitation, half of the old colony's members are chosen (usually by lot) to depart for the new colony, which they often do the very next day. When an intercolony marriage occurs, the bride goes to live in the groom's colony, where they may be treated to a "shivaree" (see charivari), though it's good-natured and not intended as a note of disapproval.

Daughter colonies
Often, colonies own large tracts of land and, since they function as a collective unit, can afford top-of-the-line farm implements. Some also run state-of-the-art hog, chicken or turkey barns. An increasing number of Hutterite colonies are again venturing into the manufacturing sector. Before the Hutterites emigrated to North America, they relied on manufacturing to sustain their communities. It was only in Russia that the Hutterites learned to farm from the Mennonites. Largely due to the increasing automation of farming (GPS controlled seeding, spraying, etc), Hutterites are again looking to manufacturing to provide work for their people. Many of the colonies, who have gone into manufacturing, have realized that they need to provide their members with a higher level of education.

Agriculture and manufacturing
Although Hutterites attempt to remove themselves from the outside world (televisions are forbidden, though tapes, CDs and radios are not), and many of the Lehrerleut and Dariusleut (Alberta) colonies still only have one central phone, the majority of the Schmiedeleut already have phones in each household and place of business. Phones are used for both business and for social purposes. Cell phones are also very common among the Schmied groups. Text messaging has made cell phones particularly useful for Hutterian young people wishing to keep in touch with their peers. Some Hutterite homes have computers and radios; a minority of communities (mostly, liberal Schmiedleut colonies) have some sort of filtered Internet access.

Use of technology
Rather than send their children to an outside school, Hutterites build a schoolhouse onsite at the colony to fulfill a minimum educational agreement with the State, which is typically run by an outside hired educator who teaches the basics including English (this person is called the "English Teacher", not because English is used in the classroom but because the teacher is an outsider (English speaker)). Traditionally, Hutterite children have left school at 15 years of age to fulfill their adult roles in the colony. This practice is still strictly maintained by the Lehrerleut and most of the Dariusleut colonies. However, an increasing number of Hutterites, especially among the Schmiedeleut in Manitoba, have graduated from high school. In addition, some of these young people have then gone on to attend university; many become teachers for their colonies. Brandon University in Brandon, Manitoba, offers a Hutterite Education Program (BUHEP) to Hutterites that are willing to teach on Hutterite colonies. This program is only available to the Hutterite colonies on the liberal side of the Schmiedleut split.

Schooling
Music is officially permitted only in vocal form, however, some colonies allow instruments

Music
Alberta Hutterites won the right to avoid having their photograph taken for their drivers' licenses. In May 2007, the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that the photograph requirement violates their religious rights and that driving was essential to their way of life. The Wilson Springs colony based their belief on the second commandment ("Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image").

Photography
In contrast to the plain look of the Amish and Old Order Mennonites, Hutterite clothing can be vividly coloured, especially on children.

Clothing
Just as the Amish and Old Order Mennonites often use Pennsylvania German, the Hutterites have preserved and use among themselves a distinct dialect of German known as Hutterite German or Hutterisch. Originally based on a Tyrolean dialect from the south-central German-speaking Europe from which they sprang in the 16th century, Hutterisch has taken on a Carinthian base due to their migratory history. In the years 1760 -1763, the Hutterites were joined by a large group of Lutherans who spoke a Carinthian dialect. Eventually, this lead to the replacement of the Hutterite's Tyrolean dialect with the Carinthian dialect. Partly as a result of this, the Amish and Hutterite German dialects are not generally mutually intelligible. In their religious exercises Hutterites use a classic Lutheran German.

Dialect
The mid-2004 location and number of the world's 472 Hutterite colonies:

Canada (347)

• Dariusleut (142): Alberta (109); Saskatchewan (31); British Columbia (2)
  Schmiedeleut (106): Manitoba (105); Alberta (1)
  Lehrerleut (99): Alberta (69); Saskatchewan (30)
  United States (124)
  
  
  
  • Schmiedeleut (69): South Dakota (53); Minnesota (9); North Dakota (7)
    Lehrerleut (34): Montana (34)
    Dariusleut (21): Montana (15); Washington (5); Oregon (1)
    Japan (1)
    
    
    
    • Dariusleut (1)
      Nigeria (1)
      
      
      
      • Schmiedeleut (1) See also