A Saskatchewan author said Hutterites are being discriminated against as COVID-19 spreads through some of the province’s colonies.
Mary-Ann Kirkby was born on the Fairholme Hutterite Colony in Manitoba. Her family moved into mainstream society when she was ten-years-old and was surprised there were misconceptions about what Hutterite communities are like.
She recounts experiences in her memoir I Am Hutterite and continues to speak out on the stigma around Hutterite colonies.
She said discrimination has worsened in recent weeks.
“They’re being called names and yelled at,” Kirkby said.
“It’s so wrong and it’s so unfortunate that people do that.”
There are nearly 100 Hutterite colonies in Saskatchewan, led by different bishops. Kirkby said most communities followed proper safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and the virus most likely spread because of the leadership of some.
“There is one who is rather cavalier and has an attitude that he doesn’t quite believe in COVID, so those communities were given access to go to town,” Kirkby explained.
While communities have different leadership, the general public can’t tell the difference between people from different colonies. Kirkby said everyone is being bunched together, and some people are assuming all Hutterites are spreading the novel coronavirus.
Kirkby notes a history of Hutterites keeping their culture to themselves, which doesn’t help the situation.
“When you don’t tell people who you are, they make it up and that’s what happened. So that’s on them because that’s not okay to not tell your story. They have an extraordinary story to tell,” Kirkby said.
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out. In situations where you can’t keep a safe distance from others, public health officials recommend the use of a non-medical face mask or covering to prevent spreading the respiratory droplets that can carry the virus. In some provinces and municipalities across the country, masks or face coverings are now mandatory in indoor public spaces.
For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, click here.