When is rainbow gathering 2017

Law enforcement is conducting investigations into both deaths. The gathering promotes peace, love and acceptance. It continues through Friday.

The Forest Service says the gathering is unsanctioned but the agency can do little to stop the thousands of participants. For those unfamiliar with the Rainbow Gathering, it's the annual get together for the Rainbow Family of Living Light, a name that definitely does not sound like an offshoot of the Manson Family, and has been happening every July since They're a counterculture movement with no formal leadership structure, and the only thing one needs in order to be a member of this family is a bellybutton , a requirement I randomly discovered not every human on the planet is able to fulfill.

They call themselves "Rainbows", and the gatherings are meant to be a community free from indoor plumbing and the evils of our capitalistic society, which they refer to as Babylon. It's basically Burning Man's extra crunchy older brother who disappeared for a few years in the sixties and came back a little weird. The gatherings are somewhat controversial in that they're usually held on federal lands, much to the dismay of the Natives who originally lived there, although in the past there have been some people within the tribes who were willing to work with the Rainbows to make sure they're respectful to sacred sites and surrounding communities.

However, this is hard to do with a gathering that can attract up to 20, people, and one of the major concerns around the event is the impact that all those people camping and pooping in one spot for weeks has on the environment.

I spoke to Detroit-based activist June Aweri about the environmental and cultural destruction they witnessed while documenting the Rainbow Gathering in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The scene they describe is one of environmental and cultural devastation, which included trees being cut down, accounts of sexual assault, appropriation of Native cultures, overt racism, like cutesy references to slavery, and damaged root systems thanks to the numerous trench latrines brimming with human waste.

She hurried through the crowd toward a small wedding party that stood waiting for the bride and groom. A young man clutched handfuls of wrapped candy to toss at the couple like wedding rice. Time to get married! A tall, thin man strode by, swinging a six-foot hula hoop around his neck. A young woman crumpled to the ground mysteriously.

Rainbow gatherers say they accept and welcome everyone — social misfits, homeless teens, recovering drug addicts, emergency room surgeons and aging hippies. Each camper has a different personal reason why they come, but the larger focus of the gathering is an ideal that dates back to the first gathering in world peace.

In the fading light, she meandered toward her camp to prepare for the next day. July 4 is the pinnacle of every Rainbow Gathering. From dawn till dusk, everyone is silent. Gatherers break the silence at high noon, after a communal prayer circle. It hurts. We just need to accept each other. But this year, she felt entitled to stay silent. She said she felt a deep need to make peace with herself, and to think about all that she was grateful for. The day would also be a welcome, quiet one for the dozens of Forest Service law enforcement officers who put in long hours trying to manage the unwieldy and unauthorized event.

After a Rainbow council announces the location on Facebook, thousands of campers immediately head that way. The Forest Service typically requires groups of 75 or more to get a special-use permit. An organized gathering as large as Rainbow requires an environmental analysis that might take two years.

But the Rainbow gatherers buck those requirements by pointing out that they have no official leaders. They ask the Forest Service to treat them like thousands of dispersed campers who simply happened upon the same site. Instead, they go into high gear the moment they know the site location, flagging off sensitive wildlife habitat and giving the campers instructions for where to dig latrines for human waste.