Voices / Essay

A tribe like no other

An African-American woman sets out to learn organic farming and gets more than she bargains for

Bellows Falls

From a balcony overlooking the pristine flow of water at the base of rolling Fall Mountain, I observe a swirl of colors and register a happy cacophony of sounds.

It is the first farmers’ market of the season in quaint Bellows Falls, Vt., and below my perch, near a historic train station, there are booths set up in rows representing organic farms from around the area, children playing and laughing, and jubilant bluegrass sounds tinkling from performers on a makeshift stage. What emanates is a distinct sense of solidarity in liberal consciousness, residents having come together to celebrate and support simpler ways of living, and living in accordance with the Earth.

In the far right of this scene, I see a tented booth for Basin Farm, looking as normal as any other — tomatoes, cucumbers, onions in piles. And standing behind that booth are two scruffy, ponytailed men who fit right in amongst the oft-stereotyped gaggle of organic farmers in seeming hippie regalia.

Yet these two men, Lemuel and Nadiv, are oceans away from the other farmers milling about — they are oceans away in thought, intent, self-conception, and purpose.

This I know from experience.

They represent a darker note this afternoon, on a brilliantly sunny day in a liberal hotbed corner of New England whose penchant for the eccentric is regularly exploited for their gain, unbeknownst to patrons taken in by smiles and genteel talk of God.

They are members of the Twelve Tribes, the most notorious religious cult in Vermont, and perhaps in the country, which has dozens of communities stationed throughout the world, yet considers this state its home. This month marks the 25th anniversary of the infamous raid on their Island Pond headquarters, wherein 90 state troopers and 50 social workers seized 112 children in the pre-dawn hours of June 22, 1984, on allegations of horrific child abuse.

Before any children could be examined for signs of abuse, Judge Frank Mahady dismissed the state’s claim due to lack of evidence prior to the raid, despite it being headed by John Buchard, then the State Commissioner of Social and Rehabilitation Services who initiated investigation due to eyewitness accounts of ex–Twelve Tribes members who’d gone to the media with their stories.

Though the children were returned the same day, “Vermont’s cult” suffered an irrevocable stigma worse than the cries of racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, homophobia, and general negativity already leveled against it since its 1972 inception.

Looking at the market below, I am suddenly perturbed, thinking of the dollars being spent in support of a cultural institution opposing the basic fabric of anything steeped in liberalism. Much has been written about these people, much speculated, much abhorred, and much defended. I do not offer this to add to any general clangor of assault. I offer this as one of the saga’s hidden songs.

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• Twelve Tribes' Web site