When the earth is ravaged and the animals are dying, a new tribe of people shall come unto the earth from many colors, classes, crees and who by their actions and deeds shall make the earth green again. They will be known as the warriors of the Rainbow. - Old Native American Prophecy
Gathering once a year on for the purpose of saying “a Prayer for World Peace” at noon on the fourth of July, the Rainbows are a loosely associated group of people , young and old, living in utopian bliss with other like-minded people for a weekend. Ever wonder where the Flower Children of the 60's went? Likely they are at a Rainbow Gathering!. Seed campers arrive at the agreed upon location months ahead to lay clean water lines from springs, map out trails and bridges, rope off fragile riparian areas, plan out where toilets will be, build stone and mud ovens and plant a Peace Pole in the Main Meadow. They take great pains to assure sensitive plants and animals are not disturbed and no one camps too close to fresh water sources.
Photo of the site map at Arizona National
The location is not revealed to the general public until about 2 weeks prior to the 4th of July. Kitchens start arriving with free food (always vegan) with which they will feed anyone sitting around Main Circle at dinner time with spoon and bowl in hand. If you don't have anything to eat with, you can find one at the recycling pile. The kitchens carry large pots around the circle serving until they run out of food. The Magic Hat is passed by singers who dance and sing as they walk/skip around the circle - to collect any donations for the kitchens to get more food. Lovin' Oven builds ovens and bakes bread, pies and cookies constantly (ovens below).
People address each other as Brother and Sister. There is rarely any violence or even disagreements and the elder brothers are there immediately to resolve issues. The smell of pot can be caught in the air, but hard drugs are never seen or tolerated. All of this culminates in a Silence from morning to noon in the Main Meadow followed by the procession of children and a Prayer for World Peace which culminates in an OOOM and explosion of cheering and hugging. Lots of hugging at a Gathering.
Yippee! 4th of July Prayer
You can go to Barter Circle and see what you can trade for, go to Kiddie Village and your children can play with other children and meet other moms and dads, go to any of the zillions of workshops, visit in Bus Village or just wander around wondering where it was that you were camped. All in all, an adventure in love and utopian living. Oh and after it is over, Clean Up Crew stays and carries out garbage and recycling, rakes and reseeds the paths with native grasses, takes apart structures and leaves it often better than it was before.
The Down Side is the Federal Government Forest Service has been fearful of the Rainbow Family for many years. Once thought to be "a major threat to National security", Forest Service Rangers and police regularly hassel and shake down travelers into the National Gathering and have jailed whomever they can - one eye witness saw a police officer hold a shotgun to a pregnant girl's belly. Officers go into the closest towns and spread fear to the locals - warning of looting and their town being overrun by stinking filthy stealing hippies. The truth is Gatherings usually boost the local economy as visitors buy supplies there. The Forest Service is trying to change the laws specifically for the Rainbows - trying to force them to get permits for groups of over 75 and take responsibility for anything that anyone (5,000 to 10,000 strangers) may do at the Gathering. Try doing that to the Boy Scouts!
As National Forests are owned by US citizens, it has always been free to camp and use National Forests. Oddly enough, once the Rainbows have improved areas and make campgrounds, local park services take over the areas and charge camping fees for those sites! See Ocala Forest, Florida. Rainbows see the Real ID Act and forcing people who want to go into National Forests as a direct attack on their Freedom of Speech to continue the Prayer for World Peace that they have been doing since the 60's.
PHOTOS
This is Yamato, the Japanese brother (Zen Buddhist monk now) who first brought the Peace Pole Ceremony to the Rainbow Gatherings in Oregon in 1978 and who initiated the United Nations 50th anniversary Global Peace Walk 1995 NY to SF with Dalai Lama's blessing and many rainbow folks involved including Felipe's kitchen bus and crew. Yamato built the first sundance grounds at Big Mountain.
