As an ongoing phenomenon, the Rainbow
Gathering is unique in the American experience. Born as a non-political
alternative to the mass gatherings of the time, the first Rainbow Gathering
took place in 1972 in a remote Colorado wilderness, drawing some 35,000
adventurers to a new American tribal event. Today, as then, Gatherers seeking
harmony with nature and one another create a free, week-long communal
camping experience each July 1-7, incorporating established Rainbow rituals
derived from Native American and diverse spiritual cultures.
Since its inception, the National Rainbow Gathering has taken place each year
-- often against great odds -- on sites chosen by Rainbow scouts
on National Forest land. With over three decades of history, the Gathering
has evolved an extraordinarily colorful set of spiritual, social,
environmental and practical traditions that are also practiced throughout
the year at regional Gatherings held around the country. Hundreds of
thousands of individuals have attended an American Rainbow Gathering, the inspiration
for the global Rainbow phenomenon; the European Rainbow Gathering occurs
each August, and many other annual Rainbow events take place in Canada,
Mexico, Central and South America, Israel, the former Soviet Union,
Australia and elsewhere.
The US Rainbow Gathering, however, is endangered. The American Rainbow
People look to the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees
the right of the "People Peaceably to Assemble" on public lands. This
fundamental right has been eroded through the expanded presence of the US
Forest Service Enforcement Division and other police agencies, and
attendance has fallen as thousands have been ticketed, fined and arrested
in recent years. 8,000 campers, only one-half the average, attended the
2002 Rainbow Gathering in Watersmeet, Michigan, although the 2003 Utah
Gathering was twice as large.
In 2002 the US Supreme Court refused to hear a high-profile Rainbow court
case that challenged Forest Service regulations clearly aimed at preventing
the Gathering by requiring permits for an assembly of 75 or more on
National Forest lands. As a result, three defendants -- Garrick Beck
(son of Julian Beck and Judith Malina, founders of the Living Theatre),
Joanee Freedom and Stephen Principle -- were incarcerated for 90 days for
camping without a permit at the Pennsylvania Gatheringin 1999. Although the
US Forest Service alleges they are "leaders" or organizers of the
Gatherings, they maintain, consistent with Rainbow tradition, that Rainbow
is a spiritual association of free individuals without leaders, and the
defendants speak for no one but themselves. (In fact, with no hierarchy,
all decisions continue to be made by council consensus.) The government's
position has quietly resulted in a loss of freedom for all Americans,
although the statute, not vigorously enforced at Boy Scout or church
outings, is predictably being applied in an apparently discriminatory
manner.
American Rainbow culture -- extends far beyond the central event, as a vast
network of tens of thousands of individuals around the country. The
mainstream American media and federal authorities are fond of
characterizing the Rainbow People's struggle to maintain their cultural traditions
as the throwback efforts of misguided "hippies," but this
simplistic picture is a disservice to the many thousands of participants
and their noble environmental ideals. The harassment of Rainbow People, who
are fighting to preserve the constitutional right of assembly for all Americans,
continues to escalate along with the recent erosion of civil liberties in
general.
Gabe Kirchheimer has documented this modern American tribe since 1986.
|